Housekeeping for the Grey's
by StrawberryPajamas
Summary: Ana has a great part-time job housekeeping at a billionaire's second home in Aspen, but one day her boss and his whole family drop by for an unexpected Christmas vacation. What else can Ana do when they ask her to stick around cleaning during the week they're staying there? Looks like she's housekeeping for the Grey's this Christmas. AU CG/Ana HEA
1. Unexpected Guests

**Summary: Ana has a great part-time job housekeeping at a billionaire's second home in Aspen, but one day her boss and his whole family drop by for an unexpected Christmas vacation. What else can Ana do when they ask her to stick around cleaning during the week they're staying there? Looks like she's housekeeping for the Grey's this Christmas. AU CG/Ana HEA**

* * *

 **Housekeeping for the Grey's**

 **By Strawberry Pajamas**

 **Chapter 1: Unexpected Guests**

Ana couldn't help but be amazed at the beauty that surrounded her whenever she drove through the Rocky Mountains - today, the mountainous terrain was covered in a fresh coat of white snow, and the clear blue midday sky contrasted with the frigid December air enveloping everything like a freezing blanket. The heat was blasting on high inside her blue Volkswagen Beetle, but Ana still kept herself bundled up in her winter coat, fuzzy mittens and winter hat as she sped down Highway 18 toward her destination.

There was some excitable movement happening behind Ana in the backseat, and she couldn't help but giggle as she looked into the rearview mirror. "Calm down there, buddy. We're almost there."

Lester, Ana's German Shepherd puppy, yipped and barked happily, distracted by something that was happening outside. He put his front paws up on the base of the left side window while panting happily, excitedly watching the trees and mountains speed by them. Ana merely shook her head with a smile, turning her focus back on the road.

Once a month for the past four months or so, Ana would take a weekend to make this trip up to the mountains of Aspen from her home in Boulder. While the drive up was often pretty fun, since Ana would bring along Lester to keep her company, the road trip was actually meant for a temporary housekeeping job she was lucky enough to snag a few months back. Her weekday job was at an art studio in a small town outside Boulder, and her boss Martha happened to be good friends with a woman named Jillian Henderson, who was the housekeeper for some rich guy's second home in Aspen. Mrs. Henderson had unfortunately gotten into a nasty car accident about four months back, and she had some terrible injuries as a result, so she had left to go stay with some relatives out of state for her recovery.

Martha knew Ana was a trustworthy employee who needed a little extra money, and she had recommended Ana fill in for Mrs. Henderson while she recovered. Ana had immediately agreed, and after briefly talking over the phone with Gail Jones - Mrs. Henderson's employer and the rich guy's main housekeeper - Ana gave her her information and consented to a background check. Within a few days, she was cleared to work.

Ana now drove the three and a half hours across state to the beautiful mountainside mansion where nobody got to reside, but Ana had to keep clean nonetheless. That made the workload fairly easy, despite the gargantuan size of the house, meaning Ana had a lot of free time to play with her dog and paint some landscapes of the beautiful scenery around her whenever she stayed.

To an artistic introvert like Ana, these weekends were like heaven.

"We're here Lester," Ana said with a smile, turning into a long, winding uphill driveway through a large copse of trees. She drove along several twists and turns of the driveway before reaching a large cast iron gate with an electronic card reader. She opened her car window and swiped Mrs. Henderson's ID through the reader - the red light blinked green, and the gate slowly opened, allowing Ana to continue driving up toward the house.

Ana was someone who could definitely appreciate beauty, and she felt that there truly was no place more beautiful than this opulent mansion set in the side of a mountain outside Aspen. The house itself was over 4000 square feet and built with rustic cherry wood and granite stone foundation, and it had three floors with large floor-to-ceiling glass windows stretching across all stories - these windows were rather difficult to clean, Ana found, but the view it presented was totally worth it. The interior of the house was just as ornate as the exterior, with beautiful dark hardwood floors and bear fur rugs strewn throughout the expansive living room. Soft dark leather furniture, a large cobblestone fireplace and real cherry wood coffee tables filled the space, and the kitchen and dining room looked just as beautiful with deep red walls and dark wooden cabinets, tables and chairs. All the bedrooms upstairs were beautifully rustic as well with large, queen-sized beds with heavy quilt comforters, and ornate forest green drapes with tassels hanging over the windows. Whenever Ana stayed here for the weekends to clean, she would make sure to stay in the bedroom with the east-facing window so she could wake up with the view of the sun rising over the mountains.

Ana truly loved these weekends, almost as much as Lester did.

"Whoa, slow down buddy," Ana laughed after she had parked the car and opened the back door. Lester immediately bounded out, barking happily as he hopped into a nearby pile of snow, his dark fur immediately getting covered in white fluffy stuff. Ana pulled her overnight bag, a box of Lester's things and her art supplies out of the trunk, and whistled for Lester to follow her into the house. The puppy immediately bounded after her, shaking his fur out before rushing over the threshold.

Ana entered the living room, smiling as she looked out the window toward the view she had grown accustomed to over the past few visits. She set down Lester's things before walking across the dark room toward the sweeping staircase leading up to the other floors, and went to put her things away in her bedroom. She would be sure to set up her painting easel and canvas once she got the generator working and the lights on.

Still bundled up in her winter coat and hat, Ana went back downstairs and headed out the backdoor, where there was a large porch spanning across the entire south face of the house. Down the steps and around the corner near the side of the house was a large generator, and once she had powered it on, the automatic porch lights flickered on. Satisfied, Ana then hurried back inside so she could turn the furnace on and heat up the place before she would start cleaning.

Ana let Lester out to run around in the backyard, which thankfully had a fence surrounding the property, making Ana feel safe he wouldn't run off or leap off the mountain ledge. After watching him for a few minutes, she went back inside the house and walked into the kitchen, where a landline phone hung on the wall near the refrigerator.

Ana didn't often use landlines, but up here she was forced to considering how her cell phone had virtually no reception in the mountains. She picked up the phone and dialed a familiar number.

"…Hello?" a female voice answered after a couple rings.

"Hi Kate," Ana grinned, and Kate squealed from the other end.

"Oh my God, you made it! How was the drive up?" she asked excitedly.

"Beautiful, as usual - I can't wait to start painting some landscapes of this place," Ana said, gazing out toward the backyard. "The snowfall makes everything look so perfect and pristine."

"I'm _so_ jealous. I can't believe you wouldn't let me take the drive up with you to Aspen," Kate said, pouting.

"Why? So you could invite a bunch of people to throw a big party in the house I'm being paid to take care of?" Ana asked humorously. "I think that would be counterintuitive to me keeping this job, Kate."

"Who cares? This is probably the last time you'll have to drive up there before Mrs. What's-Her-Name is working again anyway. Why not make it memorable?" Kate asked innocently, causing Ana to roll her eyes. "It really is a wasted opportunity, Steele."

"Too late Kavanagh - I'm already here and you're not," Ana grinned. "Besides, aren't your parents and Ethan coming tomorrow to visit you for Christmas?"

"Oh God, don't remind me," Kate said, and Ana could practically hear her rolling her eyes. "I think I'm going to try to clean the place up a little today before they come. When are you supposed to be back again?"

"Sometime Sunday night," Ana said, trying to think. "That's the 23rd, so the day before Christmas Eve."

"Oh perfect - I'll have a whole Saturday and most of Sunday to spend with my parents all by myself," Kate said sarcastically, and Ana laughed.

"Oh come on, they're not that bad - I'm excited to be spending Christmas with you guys," she grinned. She thought about her stepdad Ray up in Washington by himself though, and felt a small, painful clench in the pit of her stomach when she knew she wasn't able to spend Christmas with him this year. Neither of them had the time or the money in order to do so, therefore they were going to have to settle for Skyping each other on Christmas Day. Ana wasn't thrilled about doing that, but it was what it was, she supposed.

Ana suddenly heard an unfamiliar sound come from outside, and she frowned, trying to look out the window where Lester was playing out back. "Sorry Kate, I have to go. I think Lester's gotten into something."

"Oh, okay I'll let you go. Call me tomorrow?"

"Sure thing. Bye Kate," Ana said before hanging up and setting the phone back in its holster.

She walked out of the kitchen into the living room, and the noise came again - it sounded like it was coming from outside the front of the house this time, and Ana glanced at the door, frowning.

"Lester?" she called, wondering if he had run to the front yard.

But Lester's bark didn't answer her - instead, the sound of crunching footsteps in snow and faded voices talking came from outside the front door, and Ana froze, unsure of what to do. Were there people out there? Was it the neighbors, or were they trespassers? Should she call the police? She wasn't prepared for this - no one had ever come by while she was here before.

The front door opened, and Ana's heartbeat skyrocketed:

"…perfectly capable of taking care of everything while we're staying here, darling," A middle-aged woman was speaking to someone behind her as she stepped into the house - she wore a deep purple peacoat and fluffy white earmuffs, and she was pulling off her gloves as she walked into the house as if she owned the place.

She glanced up toward the ceiling with a frown on her face. "Why are all the lights on…?" She looked back down and stopped in her tracks when she noticed Ana standing in the middle of the living room. The look of surprise on her face Ana was sure mirrored her own.

"...Hello," the woman said after a moment, clearly baffled.

"Hi," Ana said hesitantly, unsure of what else to say.

"Who are you?" the woman asked. While she was clearly confused, her tone wasn't condescending or rude. "I thought the only other person who has access to this house was Mrs. Henderson."

Ana, realizing this woman probably owned the place, quickly opened her mouth to explain, but before she could someone else came through the front door - a tall man with copper-colored hair wearing a black peacoat and leather gloves. He carried two suitcases in his hands.

"Mother, whose car is parked out front?" he asked, but stopped once he saw Anastasia standing there. He halted in his tracks, staring at her in surprise.

"I believe it's this young lady's here, although I'm not sure who she is," the woman said, giving Ana a guarded look. "What's your name, dear?"

"Anastasia Steele," Ana said quickly. "I was hired by Gail Jones to fill in while Mrs. Henderson is on leave."

"Oh," the man said, looking over at Ana with a confused look on his face. "Gail never mentioned that to me. When did she hire you?"

"About four months ago," Ana answered. "Right after Mrs. Henderson had her accident. Mrs. Jones has all my information, if you want me to give her a call real quick and she could tell you…"

"I'll call her," the man said quickly, still gazing at Ana scrupulously and causing her to blush for some reason. "I'll get this all straightened out - excuse me."

He set down his suitcases and strode over to the kitchen where the landline phone was. Before Ana could say anything else, a flood of other people suddenly entered the house, chatting noisily amongst themselves:

"…Elliot, seriously that's not funny. Give me back my phone!" A young dark-haired woman in a fur-trimmed silver coat demanded as she followed a tall blonde guy in a puffy orange winter coat into the house.

"Why do you care if you have it? It's not like we have reception up here," the blonde guy named Elliot snickered, tossing the phone back to the young woman and making her fumble to catch it. "Nice catch, sis."

"Ugh, I _hate_ you Elliot!" the young woman snapped, sounding whiny.

"Hey Mia, do you think we could hit the slopes today? I'm pretty sure I saw a cool one about a mile back," another girl said as she entered, her long blonde ringlets and black fur-trimmed winter coat looking very chic and fashionable. She was followed into the house by two other young men - one in a red and black coat with ski goggles on his head, the other in a green puffy winter coat and gloves. A third woman entered the house with short curly brown hair and a blue coat while carrying a little boy in a Spiderman jacket on her hip.

All of these new people entering the house made Ana suddenly very uncomfortable, and she wished fervently she could just disappear into the floorboards. Why on earth did she choose to drive up this weekend to infringe upon the owner's family vacation?

"We should hold off on doing anything until Grandma and Grandpa Trevelyan arrive and we've all unpacked our things," an older gentleman with graying hair came in last, wearing a coat and gloves similar to the copper haired man. "Grace, do you know when they're arriving?"

"Dad said he was about an hour behind us," the woman in the purple coat said, checking her watch. "Hopefully, they'll be here by one o'clock."

"Great, that should give us some time to settle in," the gray-haired man nodded.

With the noise and distraction of people talking all around Ana, she had almost forgotten about her dog out in the backyard. But Lester's excitement upon seeing so many new people through the window caused him to come right up to the patio door and start to bark happily at them. The noise he made finally seemed to draw the others' attention.

"Is that a dog?" the pretty blonde in a fur-trimmed coat frowned at Lester out on the patio.

"Aw, he's so cute!" the dark-haired woman squealed.

"…Wait, who are you?" the blonde guy in the puffy orange coat looked over at Ana, a confused frown on his face as he and the others finally noticed her. Everyone stopped to look at Ana, and she felt her face heating up in embarrassment.

"I…"

"This is Anastasia. She's been filling in as a housekeeper here for Mrs. Henderson for the past few months," the copper-haired guy appeared at Ana's side, and she felt inexplicably grateful for his interruption. "I wasn't aware she would be here since I wasn't informed about her, but I just spoke to Gail over the phone and got everything straightened out."

"Cool," the blonde guy said, turning to Ana and giving her a wide grin. He stuck out his hand. "Nice to meet you, Anastasia - I'm Elliot."

"Nice to meet you," Ana smiled back, shaking his hand. "And please, call me Ana."

"Ana... that's very pretty," Elliot smiled.

"Ana, did you know we would be here this weekend?" the copper-haired man asked curiously, and Ana looked up at him, feeling her face go red for some reason.

"Oh, um - no I didn't," she said uncomfortably. "I drive up here one weekend a month to clean the house, and that was going to be this weekend. It's just a coincidence I'm here, and I'll be more than happy to leave right now so I won't infringe upon your vacation."

The copper haired man stared at Ana for a moment, an unreadable expression on his face, before turning to look at the woman in the purple coat. He seemed to be silently beseeching her of something, and she seemed to know what he was thinking since she gave him a commiserating look.

"No, Christian - we're not doing that," she said firmly. Ana glanced between them, confused.

"Why not? She's already here, and Gail can't come since she's about to leave for New York with Taylor today," the man named Christian argued back. "It would be perfect."

"It's Christmas, darling - don't you think she'd want to spend it with her family?" the woman asked pointedly, as if Ana wasn't standing right in front of them. "I already told you, I am perfectly capable of doing all the cooking and cleaning myself while we're staying here."

"It's your vacation too, Mother - you shouldn't have to do all that by yourself," Christian insisted. "Just let me ask, okay?"

Before his mother could argue again, the son turned to look at Ana again, his shrewd gray eyes boring into her own.

"Ana - since you're already here, how would you like to make a little extra money this Christmas?"

* * *

 **TO BE CONTINUED**

 **Hope you like the start of this new story. Please review!**


	2. Working for the Week

**Chapter 2: Working for the Week**

Ana was at a loss for words. She should have known they were going to ask her about this - the copper-haired guy and his mother were suggesting that she, Ana, should stick around to cook and clean while their family was vacationing here in Aspen. It was a rather daunting proposition, since Ana had never done anything remotely like this before - cleaning an empty house was one thing, but cooking and cleaning for at least ten people over the course of several days, not to mention taking care of a dog and a small child, felt like far too much to undertake alone. And how long were they going to be staying at the house anyway? Ana had a thousand questions, and she honestly didn't know which one to ask first.

"Um…" Ana hesitated, trying to get her thoughts together.

"I understand, this is a lot of ask of you so suddenly," Christian said to her, as if he knew what she was thinking. "Especially during Christmas, but with all of us staying here for the week and with our full schedule of activities, we'll definitely need some extra help around the house. I'd be more than happy to compensate you for your time."

"Christian, darling, think of what you're asking," the woman named Grace chided her son, walking to stand near Ana. "You really want this girl to stay in a houseful of strangers for a whole week, cleaning up after us and cooking our meals? It's far too much to ask - and besides, I'm sure she has her own family to visit with on Christmas this year."

"Actually, I was just going to spend the holidays with my roommate and her family," Ana said, realizing she wasn't completely disregarding what the copper-haired guy had proposed to her. "However, I'm not so sure if I'm equipped to be a housekeeper for all of you by myself, especially when I already have a dog to take care of."

On cue, it seemed, Lester let out a happy bark from outside on the patio, and several of the people in the room laughed. Ana walked over to the door and opened it, allowing Lester to bound inside and give his attention to the people in the room. A few of them bent down to pet him.

"Well, if we want her to stay with us for the week, it's only fair that she learns who everyone is," Elliot, the blonde guy, piped up. He clapped his hands together and turned toward Ana, a big friendly grin on his face. "I'm Elliot, as you already know, and this woman in the purple coat here is my mother, Grace Trevelyan Grey."

"Pleasure to meet you, dear," Grace said kindly, shaking Ana's hand. She gestured over to the copper-haired man. "And this young man over here is my other son Christian. He's actually the reason we're all here today… he owns this property, and he was kind enough to let us host our family Christmas vacation here. I suppose he technically would be your employer as well."

Ana turned to face Christian, and once again felt heat rush to her cheeks the moment her eyes landed on him. He appeared to be only a few years older than Ana, and not to mention incredibly handsome - underneath his coat he wore a light brown crew neck jumper and dark wash jeans, making him look like a rugged male model from an L.L Bean catalog. His piercing gray eyes bored deeply into Ana's as they clasped hands, and Ana felt as if an electric current had suddenly shot through her fingertips upon contact with his skin. Her heart began pounding faster in her ribcage.

"…And over there is our sister Mia," Elliot went on, and Ana looked over to see the dark-haired girl in the silver coat smiling and waving at her. "Next to her is her boyfriend Sean and her best friend Lily."

"Hello," the blonde girl in the fur-trimmed black coat and the guy with the ski goggles both waved at Ana, and Ana waved back.

"Over here is our dad, Carrick," Elliot went on, and the gray-haired man in the black peacoat walked over to shake Ana's hand. "And two people who aren't here yet, our Grandma and Grandpa Trevelyan, should be arriving sometime within the hour."

"It's nice to meet you," Ana smiled at Carrick. She was starting to feel more and more comfortable around these people.

"Nice to meet you too, Ana," Carrick smiled back at her.

"I'm Justin, Carrick's cousin," the young man in the green coat piped up, walking forward and shaking Ana's hand. "This is my wife Eliza, and our little boy Bradley."

"Hi," Eliza, the woman in the blue coat and the little boy on her hip, smiled and shook Ana's hand after her husband. "I'm sorry you're getting dragged into cooking and cleaning for all of us, but I promise to help as much as possible. Grace will help out a lot too, I'm sure."

"Of course I will," Grace piped up, and Ana looked over at her. "If you choose to stick around, Ana, you won't have to do all the work yourself - you would merely be helping us out with the workload. And as Christian already said before, you would be compensated extra for your time."

Ana glanced back over at Christian, who gazed at her with an unreadable expression on his face. She was still on the fence about whether or not she should stay to help out with the housekeeping, but this whole group of people seemed very kind. Plus, she would be able to stay an entire week here in this beautiful house and actually get paid extra for it - all it would cost her was a few extra days of cooking and cleaning. The idea of staying here was getting more and more appealing, although there were a few issues she needed to clear up.

"Well, I could definitely use the extra money," Ana began with a smile, and some of the people in the group smiled as well. "But I only packed enough clothes for one night - I don't have enough for the whole week."

"Ooh, we can take her shopping!" Mia squealed in excitement, turning to her brother imploringly. "The retail stores here are to _die_ for! And I'm sure a lot of the new collections would look totally fabulous on her."

"Mia, we're not going to make her spend money she doesn't have on new, overpriced clothing," Christian said firmly to his sister before turning back to Ana. "If you'd like, you can call up your roommate to pack some luggage for you, and I'll pay to have it shipped here overnight. Would that be acceptable?"

Ana nodded, smiling at him. "That sounds good. Thank you."

"You're welcome," Christian said, giving her a small smile. Once again, Ana felt herself blush under his gaze.

"So is that a yes?" Grace asked, and Ana turned to look at her. "You'd be willing to stay with us for the week? I mean, if you need some time to think it over, we completely understand…"

"It's alright," Ana interrupted her with a smile. "I'd be happy to stay and help. I need to call up my roommate and fill her in on everything, but aside from that, I don't see why not."

"Oh wonderful!" Grace beamed, and Elliot and some of the other Grey's cheered happily. "You really are a lifesaver, darling. Christian - make sure you give her a generous Christmas bonus for her trouble."

"I will, Mother," Christian smiled at his mother before looking back over at Ana.

"Great - can we go unpack now?" Lily asked impatiently, and the others all chorused their agreement. They began to move toward the staircase together with their luggage in hand.

"Remember, we agreed on how the rooms would be divided up," Carrick piped up over the noise, picking up his suitcases once again. "There are two rooms with bunkbeds - Mia and Lily will share one, as will Elliot and Sean. The three married couples will each get their own rooms, and Christian requested he get the bedroom beside the study. That should leave one more for Ana," Carrick turned to Ana. "Are you already in one of the bedrooms?"

"I left my things in a room on the third floor, the one with the east-facing window," Ana said. "If you'd like me to move to a different one, though, I'd be more than happy to…"

"No," Christian said quickly, and Ana looked over at him. "You don't have to move your things, Ana. That room is yours - please take it. You should feel at home here."

Ana looked at him in surprise for a moment before nodding, giving him a small smile. "Thanks."

Christian smiled back at her, and there was a look in his gray eyes Ana couldn't quite place. She had to admit, she sort of liked it when he looked at her like that.

He turned and gestured to the phone back in the kitchen. "If you'd like to call your roommate right now, you're free to do so. The rest of us are just going to get settled into our rooms for a bit until our grandparents arrive."

Ana nodded once again. "Yes, I probably should do that. Thank you Christian." She suddenly froze, feeling uncomfortable. "I-I'm sorry, is it alright if I call you Christian? I know that you're technically my employer…"

"Christian is fine," Christian insisted with a kind smile. "And everyone else here would probably prefer it if you called them by their first names too - I'll be no exception to that."

"Okay," Ana smiled gratefully. Carrick, who was still standing off to the side, gave Christian an odd look.

"Once everyone has arrived and we're all settled in, my mother and I can go over the daily itinerary with you," Christian went on. "That way you'll have a better understanding of when the meals will be, what times we'll be out of the house, etc. Is that alright?"

"Sounds great."

"Great. I'll be right upstairs if you need anything."

Christian turned and began to head up the stairs, his father falling in step beside him. As the two of them moved away, Ana could overhear a part of their hushed conversation:

"…Taylor doesn't even call you Christian."

"We're on vacation, Dad."

A low chuckle. "Okay."

Ana wasn't really sure what that meant, but decided to put it out of her mind as she went into the kitchen to call up Kate once again, this time with the latest development regarding her trip to Aspen.

* * *

The landline phone here was wireless thankfully, so Ana decided to take it upstairs so she could call her roommate in the privacy of her own bedroom. Kate was understandably upset to learn that Ana wasn't going to get to spend Christmas with her and her family anymore, but she was sincerely happy Ana was going to get paid extra by the owners for doing this for them. Kate worked as a waitress at a small local restaurant, so she knew firsthand how hard it was to scrape by with only a little money. If there was a chance either of them could make a little extra cash, they would jump at it without question.

"Your Fancy Mr. Rich Guy Billionaire better reimburse me for overnighting your luggage to Aspen," Kate said begrudgingly, and Ana could hear her typing at her laptop in the background. "The going rate for overnight shipping is over a hundred bucks for just one luggage container…"

"He'll pay you back," Ana said with confidence. "He and his family are good people, I can tell. I wouldn't be staying a week alone in the mountains with them if they weren't."

"Good point," Kate conceded. "So what's the address again?"

Ana repeated the address for her, and for the next ten minutes or so, the two of them worked out the best method of getting Ana's luggage to Aspen within a day. Kate eventually settled on the overnight ground-shipping service from FedEx, which cost a little over a hundred dollars, and Ana quickly jotted down the price and Kate's contact information to give to Christian so he could pay her back.

"…Well, I guess I got some packing to do," Kate said after they hashed out the details, sounding a bit forlorn. "I'm gonna miss having you around this Christmas, Steele."

"I'm gonna miss you too," Ana said, smiling despondently. "I'll be sure to call you every day, okay?"

"Okay," Kate said, sounding a bit happier at that prospect. "You need to paint me a pretty picture while you're up there, alright?"

"Alright," Ana giggled, glancing out the window toward the beautiful scenery outside. "I think the rest of the group are going to be arriving soon - I should probably go back downstairs and see if they need me for anything."

"Alright. Bye Ana-Banana - good luck!"

"Thanks Katie-Bear," Ana giggled before finally ending the call.

She set the phone aside on the table near her bed before turning to glance back out toward the window. She really did love the view out here - the tall, snow-capped mountains along the horizon contrasted with the evergreen tree forest skimming along the base of the mountainside. Miles away she could even see a beautiful serene lake where undoubtedly all sorts of wildlife lived. Ana wondered if she would get a chance this week to take Lester out on a walk near there to explore.

Just as Ana was thinking this, she heard a knock on her door. She quickly walked over and opened it, seeing Christian standing at her threshold.

"Ana," he smiled at her. He had taken off his coat and was holding a file folder in his hand. "May I come in?"

"Oh course," Ana said quickly, stepping aside so he could walk in. "Have your grandparents arrived yet?"

"They just pulled up," Christian nodded. "Once they've gotten settled in, my mother and I will go over the schedule with you so we can coordinate meals and cleaning times."

"Great," Ana smiled, and, suddenly remembering, hurried over to her bedside table. "Before I forget, though - I just called my roommate, and she's going to be shipping my luggage here overnight. This how much she said it's going to cost."

Ana handed the slip of paper with Kate's information on it over to Christian, and he took it from her, glancing over it and nodding.

"'Kate Kavanagh'," he read, looking back up at Ana and smiling. "I'll be sure to wire this amount of money over to her the moment your luggage arrives."

"She will very much appreciate it," Ana said humorously, and Christian chuckled.

"I'm glad to hear it. While we're on the subject of money, though, I was hoping to discuss with you how much you should be paid while you're staying here with all of us."

Ana felt herself blush, though she wasn't entirely sure why. More than likely, she felt uncomfortable talking about how much money she made. "Oh... well, Gail was paying me $250 for each weekend I stayed here…"

"I'm aware of that," Christian interrupted her, holding up the file in his hand. "After I called Gail, she emailed me your information and the background check she performed on you."

Ana was surprised - she had a lot of questions, but the first one that came out of her mouth was: "You get internet up here?"

Christian laughed, his amusement showing on his handsome face. "As a matter of fact, yes I do. I packed a laptop and desktop printer with me along with a router and Ethernet cable so I could try to get a little work done while I'm up here. I haven't told the others though, since it's very likely they would try to hijack it to update their Facebook statuses or something."

Ana giggled. "Understood. Your secret is safe with me."

Christian chuckled. "Thank you. But what I wanted to discuss with you pertains to what I found in your background check, and I also wanted you to be aware that I have information about your work and financial situation."

Ana merely nodded, suddenly feeling a bit embarrassed. Christian had probably seen her bank account balance, which was depressingly low considering how little she made working at Martha's art studio. Most of the money in her account right now was actually from what she had earned housekeeping in Aspen over the last few months.

"While I was looking over your information, I saw that you had graduated from the University of Colorado in Boulder a couple years ago," Christian said, opening up the file folder and glancing over it. "Summa cum laude, I believe?"

Ana blinked, surprised he brought up that particular detail from her background check. "Um, yeah I did. I had a 4.0 GPA."

"Impressive," Christian smiled at her, and Ana could tell it was sincere. "Congratulations."

"Thank you," Ana said, unable to help feeling pleased by his praise.

"I noticed you also received a scholarship your freshman year, which I assume is the reason you chose this university in particular?" Christian glanced up from the file in his hand, and Ana nodded again. "You never received another scholarship while going there, however, so you took out student loans for the remaining three years you attended university. Since graduation, you've been very good about keeping up with the monthly payments, but as of right now you still owe about $8,700. Is that correct?"

Ana nodded, grimacing slightly. "Yeah, that sounds about right."

Christian closed the file folder, looking back up at Ana. "That settles it then - if you help us out with the cooking and cleaning this week, Ana, I will pay off your student loan debt in full."

Ana froze, her heart pounding as she stared at him. She wasn't sure if she had heard him correctly. "I'm sorry, what?"

Christian smiled at the stunned expression on her face. "At the end of this week, I will pay you back for your work by wiring $8,700 to your Nelnet account and paying off your student loan debt in full. Would that be acceptable?"

Ana could only stare at him, blinking. This was the absolute last thing she thought he would do - he was basically giving her $8,700! While she had kind of expected a larger payout than what she had been getting for the past few months, this seemed like far too much money.

"Christian, I…" Ana stuttered, shaking her head bemusedly. "That's too much."

"It's really not a big deal for me," Christian assured her. "I don't think it's a secret I do pretty well for myself, considering I have enough to own a second property in Aspen. $8,700 is only a fraction of what I make in just an hour, Ana - I'm more than happy to help you out with paying off your student loan debt, especially since your background check clearly shows how intelligent and responsible you are. It would be an honor to help you out with this."

Ana could feel herself tearing up slightly, touched that Christian saw her in that way. What his generous offer meant to her was more than she could have possibly expressed to him, and she couldn't help but bow her head down and bring a shaky hand to her lips, trying to hold back her emotion.

"I take it you accept my offer?" Christian asked quietly, and Ana could tell that he had taken a tentative step toward her. She nodded silently, and, as if on instinct, looked up and suddenly threw her arms around his neck, burying her face in his shoulder and hugging him tightly.

He didn't move at first, but after a moment or two he slowly hugged her back.

"Thank you, Christian," Ana whispered sincerely, tears still slipping down her cheeks as she sniffled. "I can't tell you how much this means to me."

"I'm happy to do it, Ana," Christian said just as sincerely, rubbing her back gently before eventually pulling away. "Will you be alright?"

"Yeah," Ana smiled, wiping the tears from her face. "I'll be fine. I just need a minute."

"Take all the time you need," Christian insisted. "I'll be right downstairs with my mother to go over the daily schedule with you whenever you're ready. Okay?"

"Okay," Ana nodded, still smiling. She felt more ready than ever to work for this family and give them the best service she was capable of. "Thank you again, Christian."

"No, thank _you_ Ana," Christian said firmly, and he shot her a smile before turning and walking out the door.

* * *

 **A/N: Man, I wish Christian Grey would pay off _my_ student loan debt lol.**

 **Thanks for reading. Please review!**


	3. First Day on the Job

**Chapter 3: First Day on the Job**

 **The next morning**

Ana woke up at dawn the following morning, looking out the window to see the pink and orange sunrise peeking up over the mountains along the horizon. It was a beautiful sight, and Ana couldn't help but smile as she sat up, stretching her limbs out while yawning tiredly. Lester snoozed in his little doggy bed near the door, but his ears perked up when he heard Ana get out of bed and make her way over to her closet.

Yesterday had felt like a dream, and Ana was still struggling to process it all. The last thing she had expected when coming up here for the weekend was to meet the family who owned this house. Not only was she getting to work for them, however, but she was getting her student loan debt paid off in full as her salary! It all seemed too good to be true, and part of her was almost afraid it had all been a dream, but deep down she knew it had really happened. The very thought made her smile.

Despite how early it was, Ana was going to head downstairs right away and get started on her job duties. Since Christian had offered to pay off all of her student loan debts as compensation for her services, Ana was more eager than ever to show she was a hard worker who cared about her job. She had spoken with Grace and Christian last night about what was expected of her this week, which included keeping everything tidy while also starting breakfast before the others woke up, so those were the things Ana intended to do first thing this morning.

Ana now put on her comfy slippers over her sock feet and wrapped a bathrobe over her long pajamas, the extra layers necessary due to the cold temperatures of Aspen this early in the morning. She quietly opened the bedroom door and made her way downstairs into the kitchen, hearing Lester silently trotting along behind her.

The two of them headed along the empty hallway into the main living room, where Ana saw the sun rising through the giant, floor-to-ceiling windows facing the mountains. "Want to go outside, boy?" Ana whispered to Lester once they made it up to the patio door. He panted excitedly while making whiny sounds in the back of his throat, and Ana snickered as she opened the patio door for him. Lester immediately bounded outside, jumping into the nearest pile of snow, and Ana chuckled as she closed the patio door after him and turned back into the house.

As far as Ana could tell, pretty much everything in the house seemed to be in order, although several people had left their coats, hats, and gloves lying haphazardly across the living room. She gathered up all the coats and hung them up in the closet before folding all the hats and gloves, placing them neatly in the mudroom near the front porch.

Once she had done that, she went back into the living room, looking around for anything else she could clean, but before she could find anything, she heard her name being spoken from near the staircase:

"Good morning Ana."

Ana turned to see Christian walking down the stairs, wearing plaid pajama pants and a black long-sleeve t-shirt. His copper hair looked very sleep-tousled and messy, and Ana had to keep herself from smiling at the sight of him like that.

"Good morning, Christian," Ana greeted him. "You're up early."

"I usually get up around this time," Christian said, walking up to her. "Being an early riser is kind of a hard habit to break, even when I'm on vacation."

"Would you like me to put on a pot of coffee right now? It might help wake you up a bit more."

"That sounds wonderful - thank you."

Ana turned to head into the kitchen, trying to remember what cupboard the coffee was in. Grace and Carrick had thankfully brought along groceries with them to Aspen, and it was enough to keep everyone well-fed for the entire week while saving Ana the hassle of having to make a trip into town to buy food for over a dozen people. There was a wide variety of breakfast options - fresh milk and eggs, bread, vegetables, sausage, bacon, Canadian bacon, cereal, and several flavors of oatmeal. There were also several types of coffee grounds, and Ana picked out the Starbucks medium roast to start with.

Once the coffee was finished brewing, Ana poured some into a mug - she also found a sugar dish and small cream pitcher in the cupboard, and she arranged all three on a serving tray before bringing it all over to Christian, who was sitting in the living room while reading a newspaper.

"Here you go. I wasn't sure if you wanted cream or sugar, but I put both on the side," Ana said, placing the tray on the coffee table in front of Christian.

"I usually just take it black, but thank you Ana," Christian said kindly, placing his newspaper down and picking up the mug of coffee. "Why don't you grab yourself a cup and join me?"

"Alright," Ana smiled, blushing slightly as she turned around and headed back to the kitchen. She wasn't much of a coffee drinker, but she thought it would have been rude to refuse the man who was paying off her student loan debts. Besides, she found that she rather liked talking to Christian.

 _I hope that doesn't mean anything._

Ana poured herself a cup and walked back into the living room. Before she could sit down, however, she spotted Lester standing at the patio door, staring at her and panting happily.

"Oh, excuse me one second," Ana said to Christian, setting her coffee down on the table before walking over to the patio door. The moment she opened it, Lester bounded inside happily, his wet fur glittering with white snow. He trotted past Ana to sit at Christian's feet, panting up at him happily. Christian chuckled as he leaned forward and scratched the dog's ear, earning him a happy whine.

"You know, I've never owned a dog before, but this little guy seems like a lot of fun," Christian smiled. "What's his name?"

"Lester," Ana grinned, sitting back down in her chair adjacent to Christian. "My roommate and I have only had him for a few months now, but I've been bringing him with me to Aspen every month so he could keep me company while I cleaned the house. He also really enjoys running around in the mountains up here, so both of us sort of get some enjoyment out of these trips."

"I can imagine. It'll be interesting staying in a house for a whole week with Lester here," Christian chuckled, now scratching him under his chin. Lester tilted his head back and closed his eyes, seeming to enjoy Christian's ministrations.

"He does seem to like you," Ana giggled, but just as she said that, Lester suddenly turned around and trotted off into another direction, possibly going to look for his food dish.

"Ah well - it was good while it lasted," Christian smirked, leaning back on the couch and taking a sip of his coffee. He then turned to Ana. "So why are you up this early, Ana?"

"Aside from putting Lester out, I was hoping to get an early start on my housekeeping duties. I was just tidying up the place before you came down, and once some more people wake up I was going to start on breakfast."

"That's not a bad idea," Christian nodded. "Have you ever worked as a housekeeper for a group of people before?"

"No, never."

Christian smiled. "Well, I would say you're a natural at this, but to someone like you who graduated summa cum laude, that would probably be an insult."

Ana couldn't help but laugh. "It feels like it should be, but considering how I'm currently working at a small art studio in Boulder, I'm not really one to talk."

Christian chuckled. "I suppose that's true, but if it's a job you enjoy, there can be a lot more value in it than just money."

"Do you feel that way about your job?" Ana asked. "I'm sorry, but what is it you do exactly?"

Christian smiled at her. "I'm the CEO of Grey Enterprise Holdings - a mergers and acquisitions company in Seattle. Basically, my company finds other businesses that are struggling financially and we bring them under our management. Usually, with our help, these companies are able to become profitable once again."

"Wow - I had no idea there were companies that did that," Ana said interestedly. "What if you acquire a company and then find out it can't be profitable?"

"We shut it down," Christian said simply. "Sometimes there's no other choice but to put an end to a company that's no longer making money. It's awful, but it's the world we live in."

"You sound like the ultimate consumer," Ana couldn't help but point out, and the look of surprise on Christian's face caused her to giggle. "Wielding your power in capitalist America… you clearly can't be content with mediocrity."

Christian's face brightened, and he suddenly laughed, his eyes shining with amusement. "Are you actually quoting Andrew Carnegie to me?"

"Maybe. You're familiar with his work?"

"Of course I am. _The Gospel of Wealth_ is what inspired me to pursue corporate business as an adult. He was a genius in my opinion."

"He was a very interesting man," Ana conceded. "And I'm glad you knew I was just teasing you - the last thing I would ever want to do is offend you."

"It's quite alright, Ana. I actually find it rather refreshing talking to someone like you."

Ana only smiled, not sure how to respond to that. Before she could say anything, however, the sound of people coming down the stairs came from behind her, and she turned around to see who had arrived.

"Why, good morning you two," Odette Trevelyan, Christian's grandmother, shuffled into the living room with her husband Mitchell beside her. Like Ana, they were both wearing bathrobes over their pajamas, and Odette gave the two of them a sweet smile. "What are you kids doing up so early?"

"I usually get up at this time, Grandmother. And Ana was just letting her dog out," Christian responded, getting to his feet and kissing his grandma on the cheek. "What are you two doing up so early?"

"I always get up around this time to get the newspaper," Mitchell grunted, his low gravelly voice reminding Ana a bit of her dad Ray. "Then I remembered we're in the middle of goddamn nowhere - there probably isn't a newspaper around for miles!"

"Funny you should mention that," Christian smiled, reaching down and picking up the newspaper he had been reading earlier, and Mitchell's whole face lit up. "I paid to have _The Aspen Times_ delivered to our doorstep every morning for the week we're staying here. I thought you'd appreciate it"

"Well, would you look at that! Thank you, Christian," Mitchell laughed, taking the newspaper from Christian and patting him on the arm. "With my newspaper and a cup of coffee, I'll be happy never to leave this house again."

"Mitchell, stop," Odette chided her husband lovingly. "We're all going to go skiing today, remember? We came here this week to spend some quality time with the family, not be holed up in the house all day."

"Yeah, yeah…" Mitchell grunted, not sounding very enthused.

"Can I get you guys a cup of coffee?" Ana asked Mitchell and Odette politely, and they both agreed. "I was going to start breakfast soon too. How does French toast sound?"

"That sounds great, Ana," Christian smiled at her. "Will you be able to handle making enough food for thirteen people though?"

"I'll be fine - I've made French toast tons of time before," Ana smiled reassuringly at him before heading into the kitchen. French toast was actually a specialty of hers, since she would often make it for Kate back home. She was confident she could feed thirteen people with her favorite breakfast recipe.

Ana poured out two cups of coffee for Mitchell and Odette, emptying out the carafe as she did so. At that moment, however, several more people began to make their way downstairs - Elliot, Eliza, Justin, and their little boy Bradley, all of them still in their pajamas.

"Oh, is that coffee?" Elliot spotted Ana in the kitchen. "Can I get a cup of that?"

"Ooh, us too!" Eliza called from the living room.

Ana glanced down at the empty carafe in her hand before sighing, looking back up at Elliot and forcing a smile. "Of course."

 _It's going to be a long morning._

* * *

A couple hours later, everybody in the house was wide awake and ready to head out to the slopes. There was apparently several ski slopes they all wanted to hit up today, and they needed to get there early if they wanted to get up on the best hills. Ana made sure to stay on top of making breakfast for everyone, and she was very pleased to hear all of them loved her special French toast, most of them even coming back for seconds.

"That was an awesome breakfast, Ana," Mia grinned, bringing her empty plate and glass into the kitchen. "You _have_ to get me the recipe for this French toast."

"I'll write it down for you," Ana smiled as she loaded the dirty dishes into the dishwasher.

"Thank you so much," Mia smiled.

"Mia - we're heading out now!" Carrick called from the front door. "Are you ready to go?"

"Just a second!" Mia called over her shoulder before turned back to Ana, looking apologetic. "I'm sorry that we're all sort of ditching you here, Ana. Especially with all these dirty dishes to clean…"

"Oh, please, don't worry about it Mia," Ana insisted, smiling sincerely at her. "This is what your brother's paying me for. You guys go and have fun skiing today."

"Mia!" Grace called from the front door.

"Coming!" Mia called after her mother before turning back to Ana. "We have to go now, but we'll see see you when we get back. Alright?"

"Alright," Ana couldn't help but smile as Mia turned around and hurried to the front door, waving goodbye to Ana over her shoulder. The sounds of a dozen people talking to each other while moving out the front door with all their winter gear filled the house, and after a few minutes, Ana heard the front door slam shut, and finally silence.

Lester trotted downstairs and into the kitchen, panting happily up at Ana. She smiled down at him.

"Just you and me now, buddy," she giggled, and Lester let out a happy bark.

Ana finished loading up the dishwasher, which thankfully fit most of the dirty dishes used during breakfast. Only a few of the frying pans needed cleaning, which Ana washed by hand in the kitchen sink. Once finished with that, she wiped down the counters and dining room table with a washcloth, and made sure all the food was put away in the fridge and cupboards.

Once done with that, Ana set to work cleaning the rest of the house. The whole place hadn't been cleaned since November, so a lot of the floors, windows, and furniture were a bit dusty from disuse. Ana took the next couple hours moving through each room, dusting everything that needed it, and by noon everything on the first floor was dusted and polished, looking good as new.

The others weren't going to be back until later this afternoon, so Ana fixed herself a small lunch. The weather today was bright and sunny, despite the cooler temperatures, so after she ate Ana decided to bundle up in her winter coat, hat and gloves, and take Lester for a walk through the mountains.

The scenery up here was absolutely gorgeous, and Ana and Lester had a great time walking through the snow while wending their way around the evergreen trees surrounding the house, taking in the nature around them. Ana had brought along her cell phone, and even though she had no reception up here, she couldn't resist taking several pictures of the scenery they passed along. She would be sure to paint some of these into beautiful landscapes when she got the chance.

After a couple hours out in the forest, Ana decided to head back to the house. It was almost three o'clock in the afternoon now, and the others still weren't back, even though the sun began to sink lower along the western horizon.

Ana entered the house and then went upstairs to her room to change out of her winter clothes. She decided since the others likely weren't coming back for awhile, she could take a little time to get started on painting some of the pictures she had taken outside. She changed into her favorite painting clothes - old tattered jeans, a tank top and an overlarge button-down shirt with paint stains all over it. She pulled her hair back into a messy bun before setting up her easel and chair near the empty space beside her window. She grabbed one of the clean canvases she brought with her, her box of acrylic paints, brushes and her wooden palette. She then looked through her phone to find the best picture she wanted to paint, eventually settling on the one she took of the evergreen trees right behind the house. She liked it because she could see a bit of the house's porch in the background.

After squeezing the dollops of acrylic paint onto her palette and mixing some of them to create perfect color combinations, Ana set to work. She stroked her brush along the canvas, coloring in the intricate blues and purples of the mountains - painting came naturally to Ana, and the familiarity of working with beautiful colors and brush strokes soothed her psyche in a way nothing else could. This was just what she needed after today.

Lester napped on Ana's bed as she worked, and she was focusing so hard on her painting that she hadn't realized that several hours had passed and the sun had set outside. She only looked up from her painting when she heard a knock on her bedroom door.

Blinking bemusedly, Ana glanced down at her watch to check the time. It was a little after five. "Come in!"

The door opened and Christian stepped inside - he was wearing a gray fleece shirt and black jeans, and he was holding Ana's suitcase in one of his hands. "Hi, Ana - this just arrived for you from your roommate."

"Oh, awesome," Ana grinned. "Thank you."

"No problem," Christian smiled, walking into the room and setting the suitcase on her bed. Lester perked his head up and started sniffing the suitcase interestedly.

"I'm sorry, I didn't realize you guys had come back from skiing," Ana said apologetically, setting her paintbrush down. "I would have gotten dinner started for you guys."

"Oh no, it's quite alright - we all ate at the ski lodge," Christian explained. "That's why we were a bit late coming back. Have you eaten dinner yet?"

"Not yet, but I'll be fine for now," Ana said. "I was hoping to finish up a bit more of my painting before I grabbed something to eat."

Curious, Christian moved closer to her and gazed down at the unfinished painting sitting on her easel. Ana blushed, feeling a bit embarrassed.

"That's beautiful, Ana," Christian said sincerely, his gray eyes roving over the canvas with avid interest. "You're extremely talented."

Ana blushed even harder, letting out a self-conscious chuckle. "Thank you," she blush. There was a short silence as Christian continued to examine her painting.

"Seriously, Ana - I'd pay good money for art like this," Christian insisted. "Have you sold any of your other pieces?"

"Only a few," Ana said honestly, gazing at her painting as well. "And just to family and friends. I've kind of learned the hard way that not many people want to buy art from an unknown like me."

Christian looked down at her and smiled. "Well, maybe once more people see your talent, all that will change," he said kindly, and Ana couldn't help but smile back. "As much as I would like to stand here and admire your beautiful art all evening, I actually came up here to ask if you would like to come downstairs. We're all having some of my mother's homemade hot chocolate while warming up around the living room fireplace, and we'd love it if you'd join us."

Ana raised her eyebrows, surprised and flattered by his request. "You would?" she asked, unable to hide the hint of skepticism in her voice. She couldn't quite believe these people wanted to talk to her - a housekeeper whom they had only known for about a day. Wouldn't they think she was encroaching upon their family vacation?

"Of course we would," Christian said sincerely, looking almost surprised at her reaction. "All of us are very happy you're here, Ana, and we'd all like to get to know you better while you're staying with us. Have we given you any impression otherwise?"

Ana blinked, realizing he was right - she knew these were all good people who'd treated her with nothing but kindness and respect since they arrived. She was just being silly. "Of course not," she said after a moment, smiling sincerely. "I'd love to join you guys downstairs. I just need a minute to change out of these dirty clothes."

A certain look crossed over Christian's features, almost as if his eyes had darkened as they roved over her body. He blinked before looking back up at her and smiling. "Please, take all the time you need - we'll be right downstairs whenever you're ready."

Ana smiled and nodded, and Christian shot her one last look before walking out the room, shutting the door behind him. Ana stood up from her chair, feeling her cheeks burning and her heart pounding for some reason as she went over to her suitcase to find a clean outfit to wear.

* * *

 **A/N: Hope you all enjoyed this chapter! If you did, please leave a review.**

 **And for all of you here in the United States, I hope you have a Happy Thanksgiving! :)**


	4. Unwanted Advances

**Chapter 4: Unwanted Advances**

Ana had a great time last night sitting and talking with the whole Grey family. She had already gotten the impression that they were all lovely and kind people, but after really getting to know them last night, Ana's opinion about all of them was only confirmed. She learned quite a bit about each member of the group: Grace was a pediatrician and Carrick was a lawyer, and both Ana found were loving and sweet parents, as were Odette and Mitchell Trevelyan. The latter two were actually retired musicians who had played for the Seattle Symphony, Ana was very interested to learn. Elliot was an architect and very goofy in nature, enjoying making all the others laugh with his funny antics. Mia, as well, was very exuberant and likable, making sure everybody was included in the conversation. Eliza and Justin were a very sweet couple, and Ana learned both of them really loved hiking and the outdoors - Sean, too, apparently had an affinity for the outdoors since he enjoyed hunting during deer season. The only person in the group that Ana found she couldn't really endear herself to was Mia's friend Lily, who didn't say much at all throughout the evening. The few times she did speak were directly to Mia or Sean, and the others didn't really bother including her in their conversations.

Pretty much everyone in the group had asked Ana about her life in Boulder - what her job was and what it was like living with her college roommate. While Ana generally didn't enjoy talking about herself to other people, the Grey's had all made her feel very welcome, and she was grateful for that. She actually had had a good time getting to know all these people a bit better.

Throughout the evening, Ana couldn't help but notice Christian kept looking at her. It might have been her imagination, but every time she glanced over in his direction, she saw that he was staring right at her, his gray eyes seeming to bore into her with a certain expression she couldn't quite place. She felt herself blush a bit every time she caught him looking at her like that, and every time he addressed her with a question or a comment, Ana felt her heart beat just a little bit faster.

The evening finally ended around midnight, where everybody dispersed to their own rooms, saying goodnight to each other as they went. Christian said goodnight to Ana, causing her to blush before stammering out her goodnight to him.

God, what was it about him that made her so flustered all the time? She would have to watch herself when she was around him.

The morning of the second day, Ana once again went downstairs bright and early to get breakfast started before the others woke up. She had assumed she was going to be the only one up at this time, but when she went downstairs, she was pleased to see Christian already sitting in the living room, reading the newspaper while sipping a cup of coffee.

Ana's heart beat a bit faster when she saw him, and she couldn't help but feel excited at the prospect of being alone with him again.

"Good morning Christian," Ana said to him. Christian looked up and smiled brightly when he saw her, causing her heart to flutter once again.

"Good morning Ana," he said, holding up his mug of coffee. "I hope you don't mind, I already made a pot of coffee."

"It's fine. I'll let it slide this time," Ana joked, and Christian chuckled. "Would you like me to get started on breakfast right now?"

Before Christian could answer, however, they both heard someone coming down the stairs. The next moment Lily had appeared in the doorway, wearing a white tank top and pink shorts as pajamas. Her blonde hair was down and slightly wavy around her shoulders, framing her pretty face like she was a model at a photoshoot. It was a good look, but the below-freezing temperatures outside made her choice of sleepwear a bit ridiculous, and Ana couldn't help but raise her eyebrows at her.

"Good morning Christian," Lily smiled, striding past Ana and walking over to Christian in the living room. She let out a wide yawn and stretched her arms up over her head, thrusting her perky breasts out slightly. "Oh, excuse me," she apologized, bringing a hand down to cover her mouth. "I can see you're up early today."

"So are you," Christian answered in a light voice, turning back to his newspaper, and Lily giggled flirtatiously.

"So I am."

Ana, realizing she wasn't going to be a part of this conversation, silently turned around and headed into the kitchen, figuring she could get started on breakfast. In the other room, she could hear bits and pieces of Christian and Lily's conversation - it seemed as if Lily was recounting something funny that had happened with her and Christian at the ski slopes yesterday. It was definitely the most Ana had heard that girl speak the entire time she had been here, and Ana couldn't really say she enjoyed listening to her voice.

"…Oh my God, you were _such_ a jerk!" Lily giggled in a way that grated on Ana's nerves. "I'd already told you I was afraid of heights - why did you have to joke about pushing me off the ski lift?"

"People with a genuine fear of heights probably wouldn't choose skiing as their sport of choice, yet you kept insisting that it was your favorite. I was just trying to point out that you were a hypocrite."

Lily giggled again, clearly not picking up on Christian's insult. "You are _so_ mean, Christian! I seriously don't know how Mia can put up with you."

"Well, if I can put up with her friends, the least she could do if put up with me," Christian replied, and Ana had to bite her lip to keep herself from laughing out loud.

"Oh stop. But speaking of Mia…" Lily began, and Ana could hear her voice was getting a bit softer. Ana couldn't help but feel supremely uncomfortable listening to this. "She's probably not going to be up for a few hours. Did you want to go do something before she wakes up, just you and me?"

"Like what exactly?"

Ana couldn't help but roll her eyes as she pulled out pots and pans to start breakfast with. She set them down on the stove with a louder clang than she probably intended.

"Oh, I don't know…" Lily said thoughtfully, though her tone suggested she knew exactly what she would like to do with Christian. "Perhaps we could go for a walk? The nature around here is absolutely gorgeous this time of year."

"I know - that's why I bought the place," Christian said. "But I didn't realize you enjoyed the outdoors so much, Lily."

"Oh there's a _lot_ you don't know about me, Christian," Lily giggled, and Ana had to fight the bile rising in her throat. "So what do you say?"

"I don't think that's a good idea. The others are going to be up soon, and Ana's making breakfast right now for all of us - I don't think it would be very polite for us to leave without telling anybody."

Lily huffed, clearly annoyed by his answer. "Who cares what the others think? And that Ana girl can just put some breakfast aside for us for later. Isn't that what she's here for?"

Ana clenched her jaw as she cracked a few eggs into a bowl for omelets - she knew she should have prepared herself for someone thinking so little of her, but it was still very rude of Lily to talk about her like that. Christian seemed to think so too, so much so that Ana could hear the displeasure in his voice:

"Don't you think that's a bit rude? Ana has put her holiday plans on hold so she could stay here and help us at the last minute. And she's been doing an excellent job so far, so why do you have to be so mean?"

Ana bit back a smile as she whisked the eggs in her bowl. She heard the floorboards creak behind her, and she turned to see Lester trotting down the stairs and into the living room where Lily and Christian were.

"I'm not saying it to be mean," Lily was saying defensively to Christian. "I just meant that it's her job to - OH MY GOD!"

Lester suddenly let out a bark, and Lily screeched. Ana dropped her fork before rushing into the living room to see Lester perched on the couch cushion Lily had previously occupied, panting happily. Lily now stood several feet away, cowering from Lester as if he were a rabid beast.

"He _jumped_ on me!" Lily yelled, glaring over at Ana as if it were her fault. Ana had to stifle her laughter.

"Don't be so dramatic - Lester here is harmless," Christian said, reaching over to scratch Lester behind his ear. The puppy leaned into Christian's hand, letting out a happy whine. "Who's a good boy?"

"Are you serious?!" Lily snapped angrily. "Why is that thing even here? I thought you were only paying for _her_ to stick around for the week!"

She didn't so much as look at Ana, who felt her heart drop to her stomach. Lily was clearly angry, but Ana couldn't help but take her words to heart - it was hurtful, and it was worse knowing Ana wasn't in a place to disagree with her.

Ana looked down at the floor as Christian got to his feet, glaring angrily at Lily. "That was completely uncalled for, Lily - Ana has as much right as you to feel at home here, and neither she nor her dog have done anything wrong. Apologize to her right now!"

Lily stared at Christian incredulously, as if she couldn't believe he was asking her to apologize. When Christian didn't back down, Lily huffed, throwing Ana a dirty look.

"I'm sorry," she said to Ana, not sounding sorry at all. She then stomped her way toward the stairs, not bothering to look back. "Just keep that dog away from me!"

Ana and Christian listened to her go upstairs, most likely to her and Mia's bedroom - Ana silently turned and beckoned Lester come over to her. He obediently trotted over, and Ana picked him up in her arms before walking over to the patio door. She opened the door and set Lester outside on the patio before closing the door behind him and walking back toward the kitchen.

"Ana - wait," Christian said imploringly, and Ana stopped in her tracks before turning to look at him. "I'm really sorry about what Lily said to you. It was completely inappropriate, and I can assure you the rest of us here don't think that way about you."

He sounded truly apologetic, and Ana knew he was telling the truth. It didn't make Lily's attitude any less hurtful, however. "I know," Ana said sincerely. "It's okay, Christian - I'm not going to take what Lily said to heart. I know she was just upset about Lester jumping on her like that."

A bark came from outside, and Ana and Christian both turned to look out the window to see Lester frolicking about in the snow, running around in circles as he tried to catch his own tail.

"He is very formidable," Christian conceded with a straight face, and Ana couldn't help but laugh, feeling a bit better. Christian cracked a smile too before looking back over at Ana.

"I meant what I said, Ana," Christian said seriously, and Ana looked over at him. "I realize we're paying you to be here for us this week, but that's not the only reason we want you here. All of us very much enjoy your company - honestly, we do."

His words were sincere, and Ana couldn't help but wonder if he was speaking for himself as much as for everyone else in the house. She stared into his eyes for a moment or two before giving him a small, genuine smile.

"Thank you," she said gratefully. "I appreciate that. And if I'm completely honest, I enjoy all of your company too." She hesitated a moment before nodding toward the staircase. "Well, _most_ of your company."

Christian smiled back at her. "Just ignore Lily - it's what the rest of us do. "

Ana chuckled. "Noted."

Ana wanted to ask Christian about Lily flirting with him earlier, but couldn't really think of a way to bring up the topic without sounding like she was sticking her nose where it didn't belong. Besides, Ana wasn't sure a woman hitting on Christian was something she wanted to spend too much time thinking about.

 _God, why is this guy affecting me so much?_

"You're alright then?" Christian asked, taking a tentative step toward her. He was looking at her with that same expression he was gazing at her with last night, and it made Ana's heart flutter.

She blinked before giving him a smile. "I am - I was just thinking about breakfast. Do you like omelets?"

Christian grinned widely, his smile lighting up the whole room. "I love them."

* * *

Pretty soon, everyone else had woken up and had come downstairs for breakfast - everyone except Lily, that is, who Mia said was sulking in their shared bedroom. Nobody else seemed to care all that much, and breakfast commenced with lots of eating, conversation and laughter. Apparently, everyone was going to head into town today to do a bit of shopping, leaving Ana and Lester alone at the house once again. She figured she could use the time to tidy all the rooms, clean out the bathrooms, and maybe plan what to make for dinner once everyone came back from shopping.

Everybody was out the door by ten o'clock, and once again Ana was left alone at the house. She took the time to go into each room and clean up a bit, making sure not to go through people's personal possessions as she did so. She then cleaned each of the bathrooms - luckily, there were only three bathrooms in the house, and they weren't as dirty as Ana had initially feared. Once done with that, Ana decided to fix herself a small lunch and settle into the couch in the living room with a book she had brought along with her. Lester lay down next to her, resting his head on her lap as the two of them sat cuddled up on the couch together.

At around three o'clock, Ana still hadn't moved from her position on the couch, and she suddenly heard the sounds of several cars pulling into the driveway. She closed her book and set it aside just as the front door opened and a flood of people entered the house.

"Whew, I'm beat," Elliot proclaimed as he entered the living room, carrying several boxes and shopping bags in his arms. "Hey Ana."

"Hi," Ana said, sitting up straighter. "How was shopping?"

"Oh my God, it was _awesome_!" Mia gushed, practically skipping into the house with more shopping bags than probably anyone else in the group. "The boutiques here are to _die_ for! Seriously, if I could have bought out all the stores, I would've. Sean, can you help me put all my stuff away upstairs?"

"Sure Mia," Sean grimaced, accepting a few bags from her before they made their way upstairs together. Lily trailed up after them carrying all of her own purchases in her hands.

"Oh my goodness - I'm not sure how Mia was able to shop for this long," Odette said wearily as she entered the house, setting down the significantly fewer bags in her hands. "I realize I'm not as young as I used to be, but I don't remember having gone on 5-hour long shopping sprees even at her age."

"That's Mia for you," Grace said, sounding just as weary as she moved to sit down on the couch next to Ana. "When it comes to shopping, Mia's energy knows no limits."

Everyone looked rather tired from their shopping trip, so Ana decided to offer her services - she got to her feet. "Can I get anybody anything? Something to drink, or maybe some snacks?"

"Some food sounds awesome right now," Elliot said emphatically, plopping down in a nearby armchair. Many of the others all chorused their agreement.

"Snacks it is, then," Ana nodded with a smile.

"I can help you out in the kitchen, Ana," Eliza said kindly, moving toward her with her son in her arms. His head rested on his mom's shoulder, fast asleep. "Let me just put Bradley to bed really quick."

Ana, feeling like it would be rude to refuse her help, simply smiled and nodded. "Okay - thanks Eliza."

Ana glanced around at the others in the room, trying to assess how many people she was going to have to feed, and quickly realized Christian was nowhere in sight. Trying to quell her disappointment, she decided snacks for about eight people would be sufficient, and she went into the kitchen, thinking she would whip up some finger sandwiches, a veggie platter and some dip.

A few minutes later, Eliza entered the kitchen. "Oh, sandwiches - great idea!" she smiled when she saw what Ana was making. "I know some of us wouldn't say no to some PB&J."

Ana giggled, and the two women spent a few minutes chatting amicably with each other as they prepared the sandwiches. Ana found Eliza to be very friendly and likable, especially when she once again offered her assistance to help Ana with dinner later that evening. Ana agreed, happy to have the help.

"…I didn't see Christian come back with you guys," Ana mentioned casually after a couple minutes of conversation. "Is he still out shopping?"

"Oh no - he came back with all of us," Eliza said, arranging a few of the sandwiches on a plate. "He's probably just checking all our car tires right now. I don't know if you heard, but Mitchell's suburban got a flat tire on our way down to Aspen because of the cold weather and the higher altitude. Luckily, Justin and I had a tire pump with us, so everything worked out fine, but I think Christian became concerned that it would happen again with one of the other cars. He's just being extra cautious right now."

Ana smiled, unable to fight the swell of admiration she felt for Christian growing in her chest. "Wow. That's very thoughtful of him."

"I agree," Eliza said, giving Ana a small side glance. "Christian's a good man, you know."

Ana glanced up at her. "I know," she said, almost hesitantly.

"It's just that I know he thinks very highly of you," Eliza went on, turning back to the food. "He doesn't say it out loud, but I can tell. Christian is generally a pretty private person, and when he really trusts someone, it's a pretty big deal for him. I know that he's been through a lot in his life, and trusting people doesn't come very easily to him."

Ana was very curious about what she meant by Christian having been through a lot in his life, but didn't want to approach the subject in case it wasn't appropriate. "I'm glad that he thinks so highly of me, but how could he trust me if he's only known me for a couple days?"

Eliza didn't answer with words, but she shrugged slightly before giving Ana a mysterious little smile. Ana wasn't quite sure how to interpret that, so she finished up her plate of finger sandwiches and brought it out to the living room without another word.

Everyone was still there, including Christian who had finally come back from checking the tires on the cars. He was still wearing his winter coat, hat and gloves, and his face was a bit redfrom the cold. He was currently brushing snow off of his sleeves, and he looked up in time to see Ana approach him. He smiled.

"Hi," he said, gazing into her eyes before glancing down at the plate of sandwiches in her hands. "That looks good."

"Would you like one?" Ana asked, holding the plate up, and Christian took his gloves off before picking up one of the sandwiches. "I heard your grandpa's car got a flat tire when he was driving into the city. Is everything okay?"

"Yeah, his car's fine - he didn't crash into anything thankfully. But the lower temperatures and the higher altitude here makes air pressure in tires drop much faster than I though. I just wanted to take a few minutes to make sure all our other cars had enough air in their tires. I checked your car, too, so I hope you don't mind," he added, a bit hesitantly. Ana smiled, however.

"That was very nice of you Christian, but you didn't have to do that for me. I'm used to driving around in this climate, so I get my car checked regularly."

Christian smiled. "That's very responsible, Ms. Steele," he said, and Ana wasn't sure if he was teasing her. "I like that."

Ana couldn't help but blush and smile slightly. "Thank you, Mr. Grey."

Throughout their conversation, Ana and Christian only had eyes for each other, and neither of them noticed the others around them watching their exchange. Eliza and Justin shared the same knowing smiles, while Elliot, Grace and Carrick all chuckled at the two of them, shaking their heads. They all knew what was going on between Christian and Ana, even if neither of them knew it yet.

* * *

 **A/N: I would like to give a special shoutout to stargazer93 for being an amazing author and an overall wonderful human being :) Thank you for your awesome support, Lovely Lady!**

 **Anyway, hope you all enjoyed that chapter!** **Next chapter - more bonding time with CG and Ana ;)**


	5. Bonding Time

**Chapter 5: Bonding Time**

 **The next morning**

Ana woke up early once again the following morning, and she remembered that it was Sunday the 23rd - the day she was initially supposed to pack up and leave Aspen to head back home to Boulder. Due to the current circumstances, however, she was going to be staying for about three more days until the 26th, where she would spend her time helping out the Grey family with the cooking, cleaning, and perhaps even decorating. While she likely wasn't going to be home until after Christmas Day, she hoped she could at least give her dad Ray a call from the landline phone here on the 25th to wish him a Merry Christmas.

Ana got out of bed and went downstairs, not expecting anyone else to be up, but was surprised to see several people standing around in the living room - Eliza, Elliot, Christian and Sean were all dressed in jeans, boots and long-sleeve t-shirts. They were packing several knapsacks with water bottles, snacks and extra blankets.

"Hi Ana," Eliza looked over and smiled brightly when she noticed her, and the others glanced over too. "I'm glad you're here - all of us were about to head out for a morning hike on a trail we found a couple miles out. Would you like to join us?"

Ana was surprised and flattered at being invited on their outing, but she wasn't sure if it was a good idea due to her current situation. "Wow - I'd love to Eliza, but I think I should be here to start breakfast once the others wake up."

"Oh please - that won't be for another two hours, at least," Elliot scoffed, waving it off. "And besides, what's the worst that could happen if we're not back in time for breakfast? Everyone will have to eat cereal? The horror!"

Everyone laughed, and Ana couldn't help but smile too. "I know, but your brother's paying me to do a job, so I feel like I should at least make some effort to do it well."

"As your employer Ana, I give you full permission to come on a nature hike with us this morning," Christian said firmly, though he smiled at her. "We'd love for you to come with us."

Ana blushed slightly, pleased and also a bit embarrassed. "Okay - a hike sounds like fun," she said happily, and she glanced down at the pajamas she was wearing. "Just give me a few minutes to change and I'll be ready to go."

"Sounds good," Eliza grinned widely, and the others all nodded in agreement. Ana turned around and hurried back upstairs to her room.

Ana quickly changed into a pair of bootcut jeans, a sweatshirt and hiking boots, and pulled her long brown hair back into a ponytail. Quickly grabbing the knapsack Kate had fortunately packed in her suitcase, Ana hurried back downstairs to get ready with the others.

Christian and Sean had gathered some extra snacks and a water bottle for Ana to take with her, and Eliza had the good sense to jot down a note so the others in the house would know where they had all gone off to - once she was done with that, they were ready to go. They all bundled up in their winter coats, hats and gloves before grabbing their knapsacks and heading out the backdoor.

The moment they stepped outside, Ana felt the cool air hit her in the face, and she smiled widely - it was a crisp, sunny winter morning, and the snow-capped trees and mountains along the horizon only added to its beauty. Ana was glad she had remembered to bring her cell phone with her since she planned on taking a couple pictures for some new pieces of art she wanted to paint.

"I'm surprised you didn't bring Lester along with you," Christian walked up to fall in step beside Ana. He smiled at her. "I'd think he would have liked going on a nature hike."

Ana laughed. "He would have, but since he's still kind of a baby, I'm hesitant to take him places that may be too dangerous for him, like into the mountains out here. He'll be fine for a couple hours without me back at the house… as long as Lily doesn't get her hands on him, that is."

Christian laughed, and the two of them continued making enjoyable small talk as they followed Eliza, Elliot and Sean down the path wending through the trees and mountains. Walking out here in the fresh air and beautiful nature was a delight, and Ana wished she could do this sort of thing everyday.

"…So has the Grey family scared you off yet?" Christian asked during a lull in the conversation, glancing over at Ana with a small grin on his face. "My siblings especially can be a bit overbearing at times."

Ana giggled at the absurd notion of the Grey family scaring her off. "No, of course not! I've loved getting to know you guys - you've all been so warm and welcoming to me since you got here, and I'm actually really happy you let me stay for the week with all of you. Truly, I am."

"We're all happy you're here too, Ana," Christian said sincerely, looking over at her, and Ana gazed back at him. For a moment, they could only stare into each other's eyes before blinking and looking away.

Ana cleared her throat. "I mean, I can't say I know what it's like to have a family like yours… I grew up with my step dad and I have no siblings, so it's kind of nice being around a big happy family like yours."

Christian chuckled, though Ana noticed a hint of sadness in his demeanor. "Yeah, well… I didn't always have that, I'm afraid. I was actually adopted into the Grey family, as were Elliot and Mia, and the place I came from before definitely wasn't a big happy family."

Ana didn't know what to say to that. She remembered Eliza mentioning Christian had had a difficult life, and wondered if this was what he was alluding to. "Oh, I'm sorry."

"It's okay… the Grey's are my family now, and I couldn't be happier," Christian said with a small grin. "Though sometimes I feel I could be doing a better job being a part of the family."

"What?" Ana asked, surprised. "Are you serious? You brought your parents, grandparents, siblings and cousins to this beautiful house in Aspen for a free week-long Christmas vacation! How could you think you're not doing a good job being a part of your family?"

Christian chuckled, though it sounded a little melancholy. "Trust me, Ana - most of what I do for my family right now is making up to them for everything I've put them through for most of my life. I won't go into too much detail about it, but as a young man I was involved in some pretty unsavory activities, introduced to me by a supposed family friend. This had gone on for several years without anyone in my family knowing about it, but this past year my mother found out by accident, and let's just say the aftermath wasn't pretty. She and the rest of my family stood by my side throughout it all, even though I didn't deserve it, so I feel like I owe them for all the support they've shown me throughout this ordeal."

The sadness and sincerity in his voice surprised Ana, and despite the many questions she had regarding the 'unsavory activities' he referred to, she felt an overwhelming sense of sympathy for him. The love and devotion he expressed for his family was real, and she could tell he sincerely regretted his actions from the past.

"Your family loves you, Christian," Ana said earnestly, and Christian looked over at her. "Despite what you've done in the past, they clearly care about you enough to stick around and support you. That's what families do for each other, and you shouldn't have to feel like you owe them for anything - I can tell you love them very much, and as long as they know that, that should be enough."

Christian didn't say anything - he only stared at Ana with an unreadable expression on his face, though his eyes conveyed an emotion which caused Ana's heart to beat faster in her chest. They stared at each other, and for several wonderful moments, they were the only two people in the world.

"Ana! Christian!"

The two of them quickly broke their gaze and looked ahead - Elliot, Eliza and Sean were about fifty yards ahead of them, and they were waving for the two of them to catch up.

"Come on you two! We're gonna try to reach that cliff overlooking that valley a couple miles ahead!" Eliza shouted before the three of them turned and continued heading down the path.

Before Ana could make a move to follow them, Christian had reached down and taken her hand in his own. Ana glanced down at their joint hands before looking up at him - he was gazing down at her with that same expression on his face from earlier.

"Come on," Christian said quietly, giving her a charming smile as he pulled her forward. Nodding dumbly, Ana allowed him to lead her down the path toward where the others were walking, their hands still connected. Ana couldn't really register anything other than Christian's hand holding hers, his touch gentle and firm, and the wonderful warm tingles that filled her body as he led her along the snowy path.

* * *

It was nearly noon by the time they had all finished their hike. When they got back to the house, everybody else was already awake. Thankfully, nobody seemed to care that Ana hadn't been around to make breakfast for them - everyone except Lily, that is. She glowered angrily at Ana the moment she arrived, and even more so when she saw that Ana and Christian had spent the whole morning together getting to know one another on their hike. Even though Lily clearly wasn't the outdoorsy type, she admonished Eliza heavily for not waking her up that morning to go on the hike with them, and no one really wanted to argue with her.

The afternoon soon rolled around, and the Grey family broke off into two groups - some headed out to go skiing on the slopes several miles away from the house, while everyone else decided to decorate the house for Christmas. Carrick, Justin and Mitchell agreed to go out and cut down a nice Christmas tree to set up in the living room while Grace, Odette, Eliza and Ana went to put up all the Christmas decorations that were currently boxed up in the attic.

Ana had expected Christian to go with Mia, Elliot, Sean and Lily out to the slopes, but instead he claimed there was some work he had to do in his study, and subsequently disappeared upstairs. Ana didn't see him for the rest of the afternoon as she and all the other ladies brought down all the boxes of Christmas decorations and started making the house fit for the holidays.

At around 3 o'clock, the three men had finally come back with the tree (a beautiful 9-foot tall Douglas fir), and by that time the house had really begun to look a lot like Christmas. Wreaths, garlands and poinsettia plants adorned the walls of all the rooms, and Ana and Eliza had taken the time to hang icicle lights along the edges of the ceiling as well as the banisters of the staircase. Little Bradley was playing with his toys in the living room while wearing a cute little Santa hat on his head, and Lester trotted around the whole house, sniffing all the new decorations interestedly. Ana felt like she was living inside an idyllic Christmas card.

"Oh my God, guys - this place looks _amazing_!" Mia, Lily, Elliot and Sean had all come back from skiing, walking in through the front door and gazing around in awe. "Those lights are so pretty!"

"Are we gonna decorate the tree now?" Elliot asked excitedly, gazing at the beautiful Christmas tree Carrick and Mitchell just finished setting up. It looked a bit sad without any lights or ornaments on it.

"Nope - we're gonna decorate it tomorrow on Christmas Eve," Mitchell said with finality, brushing his hands clean. "That way we can put all our Christmas presents under the tree at the same time."

Several the people in the room looked disappointed. "Aw - I wanted to get in on decorating with you guys today," Mia said sadly, unzipping her puffy coat and starting to take off all her ski gear. Elliot, Sean and Lily all followed suit. "What are we all supposed to do for the next few hours before dinner?"

"We could light the fireplace," Eliza suggested. "Or maybe we could start a campfire in the pit out in the backyard?"

"Ugh, I wish there was a television here," Mia pouted, shaking her head. "I don't think I've ever gone this long without internet before."

Ana couldn't help but glance over at Christian, who she knew had a desktop computer set up in his office. He met her gaze and winked, and Ana had to bite back a giggle.

Mitchell suddenly turned to his wife and whispered something in her ear - the two of them smiled, and Odette nodded at him before he turned and hurried toward the staircase.

"Where's Grandpa going?" Mia asked curiously. Odette merely smiled, clapping her hands together.

"Alright, everyone - Mitchell and I have an idea, and you all are going to indulge us for a bit. Everybody start moving the furniture against the walls so there's a big open space in the center of the living room. Let's go!"

Everybody gave each other bemused looks before slowly complying, working together to push all the couches and armchairs up against the walls. Pretty soon, a large empty space of hardwood floor dominated the living room.

Mitchell now returned to the group carrying a black leather violin case under his arm. "Everybody, partner up! Every guy to a girl."

Everyone continued to look bemused as they glanced at each other, but some people obeyed his request - Eliza and Justin gravitated toward each other and clasped hands, as did Carrick and Grace. Ana suddenly felt very out of place, thinking she had no right infringing upon this family activity, but the next moment she felt someone gently taking her hand. She looked over to see Christian at her side, holding her hand like he had done on the hike this morning, gazing down at her with a smile on his handsome face.

"Come on - I have a feeling they're going to teach us how to dance," he said quietly so only she could hear. Ana blushed and nodded, finally understanding.

"Oh… should I be a part of this?" she asked a bit awkwardly as Christian led her to the open area with the other couples.

"Of course - why shouldn't you be?" Christian asked, and Ana didn't respond.

"Grandpa, I already know how to dance," Mia whined petulantly, standing next to Sean in the middle of the living room.

"All that bumping and grinding you kids do in the club isn't dancing," Mitchell said firmly, tuning his violin, and several people in the room bit back their laughter. "You're going to learn it the way your grandmother and I did - the proper way, with real footwork and actual music. Odette, show them how it's done."

"Alright everyone - we're going to begin with a simple foxtrot," Odette spoke to the room. "Everyone, turn to face your partner."

Ana, still blushing profusely, turned to Christian, and he turned to her, smiling widely. Beyond him, Ana saw Lily paired up with Elliot, and she was glaring over his shoulder to Christian and Ana as if they had personally offended her.

Odette showed them how to clasp their partner's opposite hand and hold it up in the air - the man would then place his hand upon the woman's waist, and the woman would place her hand upon the man's shoulder. Everyone complied to Odette's instructions, and Ana couldn't help but feel a tingling sensation due to Christian's proximity. She blinked and glanced away, trying to regulate her breathing.

Mitchell and Odette then demonstrated to everyone the proper steps that went with the foxtrot - two steps backward (forward for the man), one step to the side, rotate, and repeat. Everyone moved per their instructions, and Ana had to admit this clunky footwork all felt incredibly awkward.

"Grandma, Grandpa - do we have to do this?" Mia whined, glancing down at her and Sean's feet as they tried to do the rotating step.

"We just need to try it with music, that's all. Mitchell?" Odette turned to her husband, and Mitchell walked back over to the side of the room to pick up his violin.

Once he began to play, everyone listened attentively. He had struck up an upbeat and fast-paced melody, his skill clearly shining through, and several people smiled in delight upon hearing him play. Odette clapped along with the music, keeping the rhythm.

"Come on everyone - from the top!"

Christian pulled Ana closer to him, and she looked up to see him smile down at her. She couldn't help but smile back.

The couples all began to foxtrot - tentatively at first, but the longer they danced and the more Odette encouraged them, the more confident they became. Pretty soon, the four couples were gliding effortlessly around the room in a perfect circle, and Ana couldn't help but immensely enjoy dancing around with Christian to his grandfather's beautiful music.

"Oh my God, this is so fun!" Mia squealed happily, and the others all laughed.

"Follow my lead," Christian said quietly to Ana. Before she could ask, Christian suddenly let go of Ana's waist, still holding onto her left hand, and twirled her around twice, still keeping in time with the music. Ana laughed delightedly as he pulled her back into his arms, and the others all whooped in appreciation.

"Little bro's got some moves!" Elliot hollered, and the others all laughed.

"Well done, Christian!" Odette said happily. "Move in sync with your partner, everyone. Don't be afraid to improvise - go wherever the music takes you!"

The next hour or so became much more fun as all the couples danced around while Mitchell played his violin. Mia laughed and giggled happily as Sean twirled her around and around, and Eliza and Justin caused a riot when he literally picked her up in his arms as they danced in a circle. Everyone was clearly having a wonderful time, and Ana couldn't remember the last time she had had this much fun. She also couldn't remember how much she enjoyed dancing with someone, but Christian's arms around her as they moved together felt too good to be real, and she was almost sad when Mitchell finally put down his violin and everyone stopped dancing. They all immediately began to applaud, and Ana finally noticed how out of breath and exhausted she was.

"Goodness, you were amazing Dad!" Grace beamed, clapping along with everyone else. "That was so much fun!"

"Thank you for teaching us how to dance, Grandma," Mia smiled widely, walking over to hug her grandmother. "You're an amazing teacher!"

"Oh, you're very welcome dear," Odette hugged Mia back. "I always find dancing to be a wonderful activity that frees the soul and brings people closer together. I truly hope it has done so for all of you."

Ana blushed as she glanced over at Christian, who was still standing beside her. He met her gaze, and he looked as if he wanted to say something, but Grace approached them before he could:

"Ana, dear, would you mind helping me get dinner started? I'm sorry I didn't realize how late it was," Grace said apologetically to her.

"It's no problem," Ana said quickly, and she followed Grace into the kitchen without meeting Christian's gaze. The feelings currently coursing through her body caused her to become a bit lightheaded, and she was afraid being in close proximity with him for any amount of time now would make her forget all logic and reason.

"I'll get started on some roast chicken, Ana, and you could probably make a side salad," Grace said, bustling to the fridge and pulling out ingredients. "Does spinach with bleu cheese and cranberry vinaigrette sound alright to you?"

"Sure I can do that," Ana agreed, but when she glanced down, she embarrassingly noticed sweat stains on her clothes brought on by the hour of dancing. "Um... do you mind if I run to the bathroom really quick first?"

"Of course not dear, go right ahead."

Ana hurried out of the kitchen and headed toward the staircase. Out of the corner of her eyes, she noticed the others now pushing the pieces of furniture back to where they were before.

Ana walked up the stairs to her room, and after she changed into a clean pair of jeans and a long-sleeve t-shirt, she began making her way downstairs. When she reached the second floor landing, however, she saw Christian walking up the steps toward her, gazing at her with some unreadable emotion on his face.

Ana felt her cheeks flame and her heartbeat start pounding once again the moment she laid eyes on him.

"Christian," Ana greeted him as he stepped in front of her. "Did you need something?"

"No, I just…" Christian hesitated for a moment or two, gazing at her, before smiling slightly. "I wanted to compliment you on your dancing back there. I was going to say something earlier, but you walked away before I could."

"Oh... well, thank you," Ana smiled shyly. "You weren't so bad yourself."

"Well, it's only because my partner was so good," Christian smiled back, taking another step closer to her. Ana felt herself blush a little as she gazed at him, unsure of the emotion that was coursing through her body as she did.

Christian stared at her for another moment before clearing his throat. "…I mean, I just wanted to tell you how happy I am to see you enjoying yourself, Ana. At least I hope you were enjoying yourself... you deserve to have a good time while you're staying here with us."

"I am having a good time here," Ana assured him. "I appreciate your concern for me, Christian, but the truth is I love that I get to stay in this beautiful house for a whole week. Your whole family has been nothing but kind to me, and quite honestly, this is turning out to be one of the best Christmases I've ever had."

Christian looked rather surprised at her admission, but after a moment he gave her a small smile. "Well, I'm glad to hear you say that Ana. I agree, this Christmas is turning out to be a rather special one."

Before Ana could respond to that, Christian glanced up toward the ceiling. Ana followed his gaze and saw a small sprig of mistletoe hanging directly above their heads.

Ana's first thought was to wonder who had put that there, because she certainly hadn't, but the next moment she felt heat spread all the way from her head to her toes as she glanced back toward Christian. He was now staring at her with that unreadable expression in his eyes once again, and it felt like a dream when he took a step closer to her. He was now so close his nose was inches from her own, and Ana couldn't tear her eyes away from his.

The next moment, Christian had leaned forward and pressed his lips to Ana's, giving her a sweet, gentle kiss. Ana didn't respond at first, her heart pounding frantically in her chest, but after a few seconds she tentatively began kissing him back. Christian brought his hands up to cup her face, deepening the kiss, and Ana reached up to grasp the front of his shirt in her hands.

She wasn't sure what was happening or _why_ it was happening, but all she knew was that right now she wanted to kiss him forever, and damn was she going to enjoy it.

 _This is heaven._

Christian suddenly groaned, opening his mouth against hers as he took several steps forward, pressing Ana up against the wall behind her. Their kiss began to escalate in passion, and Ana felt like she was floating on cloud nine.

"…Ana?" Grace called from the kitchen, and Ana and Christian quickly broke apart. "Where are you, dear?"

Ana swallowed, trying to get her bearings. "I'll be down in a minute, Grace!" she called down the steps before looking back at Christian. His face was still very close to hers, and the way he was currently gazing at her, she knew he wanted to kiss her again.

"I have to go," Ana whispered, her soft voice conveying her regret. Christian gave her an imperceptible nod, and Ana gently extracted herself from him before hurrying back downstairs.

* * *

 **A/N: Yay! Hope you all enjoyed reading that ;) I sure enjoyed writing it lol.**

 **Next chapter - the aftermath! Please review :)**


	6. Christmas Eve with the Grey's

**A/N: Wow - I got 89 reviews for that last chapter! Thank you for all your love and support :)**

* * *

 **Chapter 6: Christmas Eve with the Grey's**

Dinner that evening was a joyous affair, with everybody at the table talking and laughing happily about the dance Odette and Mitchell had taught them all earlier. Ana tried her best to join in the conversation, but she couldn't really bring herself to - her kiss with Christian under the mistletoe still consumed her thoughts, and she was having a hard time focusing on anything else. She couldn't help but glance over at Christian every couple of minutes throughout dinner, wondering if he was just as distracted as she was - judging how many times he had met her gaze across the table, he was.

Ana couldn't believe what happened… Christian had actually kissed her under the mistletoe! And she had kissed him back. It had definitely been more than just a simple peck on the lips too - there had been real emotion behind it, conveying feelings that Ana herself had been experiencing for days now, but had no idea how deep they went. She couldn't deny how attracted she felt toward Christian, and kissing him only seemed to amplify those feelings lying dormant inside of her. However, these new feelings only seemed to complicate matters - Christian was technically her boss, and he lived over a thousand miles away in a completely different state. Not to mention he and his whole family were a bunch of upper-class socialites - hell, Christian was so rich he was actually paying off Ana's student loan debt! He was so clearly out of her league, and she would be an idiot for thinking anything real could happen between the two of them.

But then why wouldn't these damn feelings go away?

Once everyone had finished dinner, Grace and Eliza helped Ana clean up the table, putting the food away and loading up the dishwasher. Ana's mind was still dwelling on Christian, so she was grateful for their help, but she was reluctant to finish her work in case they insisted she join them in the living room where everyone else was. She would likely have to interact with the man who had been occupying her thoughts all evening, and she was very reluctant to be put into that awkward position. Fortunately, however, Mia approached Ana after dinner and asked if she wanted to bake Christmas cookies with her tonight, and Ana was only too happy to agree.

Several hours of baking with Mia and producing dozens of delicious frosted sugar cookies seemed to be just the distraction Ana needed, because once they were finally finished it was past 11 o'clock, and everybody was heading upstairs to turn in for the night. Ana had successfully been able to avoid any sort of interaction with Christian, which she was very relieved about, at least for the time being. His proximity only seemed to jumble her thoughts and send her heart into a frenzy… and a much deeper part of her was legitimately afraid being near him alone would cause her to want to kiss him again.

And that was the last thing she needed right now.

* * *

After a fitful night's sleep, Ana woke up bright and early on Christmas Eve morning to the sun shining through her east-facing window. With a sleepy yawn she rolled out of bed, deciding to change into a pair of leggings, her favorite old CU sweatshirt, and thick woolen socks to stave off the cold. Her hair was a bit of a mess, so she brushed it out and twisted it into a simple side braid over her right shoulder before heading downstairs.

Eliza, Justin, Bradley, Lily, and Mia were up already and still in their pajamas. They had congregated in the living room and were sorting through boxes of ornaments, tinsel and Christmas lights to decorate the tree with.

"'Morning Ana," Mia said brightly when Ana walked into the room. "Merry Christmas!"

"Merry Christmas," Ana grinned, glancing around the box-laden room. "You guys are already decorating the tree?"

"We're gonna wait till the others wake up, but all of us were so excited we couldn't wait to take out all the boxes," Eliza smiled, glancing down at Bradley who was playing with a cute little Rudolph ornament.

"Would you like to help us unbox everything, Ana?" Justin asked.

"I'd love to, but I should really get breakfast started for everyone," Ana said, gesturing toward the kitchen. "Does pancakes sound okay to you all?"

Everybody in the room excitedly chorused their approval of that breakfast, and Ana smiled before heading into the kitchen to get to work. Some evidence of her and Mia's late-night cookie baking still littered the kitchen, so she took a minute or two to wipe down the countertops and rinse off the cookie dough-spattered utensils in the sink.

She had just finished when she heard sound of someone approaching the kitchen and stopping in the doorway.

"You've been avoiding me."

Ana froze, staring down at the counter, before slowly turning around to look at Christian. He was wearing his usual black long sleeve t-shirt and pajama pants while leaning against the doorframe, his gaze piercing into Ana. His expression was unreadable, but Ana couldn't help but think he looked positively gorgeous right now, all sleep-tousled and sexy. She swallowed, tearing her gaze away to glance down at her feet.

"Have I?" she asked in a casual a voice, crossing her arms in front of her chest.

"You have," Christian affirmed, pushing himself off the doorframe and walking toward her. "I really think we should talk about what happened yesterday."

Steeling herself, Ana turned her eyes up to gaze directly at Christian. "No we don't," she said firmly.

Christian frowned. "We don't?"

"No," Ana said again. "We were under the mistletoe and that's why we kissed - it shouldn't have happened, but it did. You're my employer, and I'm your employee, and I fully understand that that's the extent of our relationship."

Even she could tell how unconvinced she sounded. Her tone of voice seemed to register with Christian, because the next moment he had taken several steps forward so he was directly in front of her, less than a foot apart and gazing down at her with a blazing look in his eyes. Ana stared up at him, somehow unable to look away.

"So we're just going to pretend like that kiss didn't mean anything?" Christian asked quietly, though Ana could detect a hint of a growl in his voice. The sound made her heart pound. "We're going to pretend that I didn't want to kiss you… and that you didn't want to kiss me back?" He placed his hands on either side of her on the counter behind her, leaning in close so their lips were mere inches apart, their noses touching slightly. Ana struggled to regulate her breathing. "Is that what you want to do?"

Ana closed her eyes, willing herself not to give in to her desire to kiss him again. It was very difficult, since his close proximity and the heat emanating off his skin was intoxicating. She took a deep breath, willing herself to be strong.

Opening her eyes again, she gazed up at him imploringly. "We can't, Christian."

Christian blinked, a flicker of disappointment and perhaps even resignation showing in his gray eyes. He pulled back slightly, his eyes still boring into hers.

"…You're my boss," Ana went on. "And we barely know each other - once Christmas is over with, we're going to go our separate ways anyway. It just isn't a good idea."

Christian nodded reluctantly, glancing down at the floor as he brought a hand up to run through his hair. "You're right," he agreed quietly after a moment, bringing his hand down and looking back up at her. "You're my employee - a temporary one at that - and after Christmas you'll be staying in Colorado while I'm going back to Seattle. It would be foolish to get more involved, and I apologize if you felt that I was taking advantage of you in any way."

Ana grimaced, unable to help feeling a little dejected by his words. "I didn't feel that way at all, Christian, but it's okay. Let's just try to forget about it and enjoy spending the holidays up here with your family."

The small pang of sadness Ana felt upon having to say that caused her to step away from Christian and walk over to the refrigerator so she could gather the ingredients to make pancakes. She avoided Christian's gaze as she grabbed the eggs and a carton of milk before walking over to the kitchen island and setting them down.

"…For what it's worth," Christian said, and Ana looked over at him. He met her gaze from across the room. "That kiss last night was one of the best I've ever had. I haven't been able to stop thinking about it since."

Ana felt frozen to the spot, her heart hammering in her ears as she stared at Christian. She couldn't believe he had said that - she watched as walked toward her, a hint of amusement and affection playing on his handsome face.

Ana blinked a couple times before swallowing, trying desperately to collect her thoughts as he stopped about a foot in front of her. "…Is this your attempt trying to forget about our kiss? Because I don't think you're doing it right."

"I never said I wanted to forget it," Christian replied without missing a beat, still gazing at her. "And I'll tell you right now that I don't intend to. I know you said getting involved was a bad idea, but I would be remiss if I didn't at least tell you how much I've wanted to kiss you since the moment I laid eyes on you, or that I've never enjoyed getting to know someone as much as I have gotten to know you over the past few days."

Ana was speechless - never in a million years did she think a guy would say something so romantic to her. But Christian spoke so sweetly, so matter-of-factly, that she couldn't help but believe what he said. She blushed scarlet.

"I… don't know what to say to that," she said honestly.

Christian gave her a small grin, taking another step toward her and gently taking one of her hands in his own. "You can say that I'm not making a complete fool out of myself," he said, his tone a mixture of amused and sincere.

Ana couldn't help but smile too - after a moment she shook her head. "You're not," she said quietly, sincerely.

Christian beamed at her, the happiness shining clearly in his gray eyes - despite all of Ana's earlier reservations, she couldn't help but feel a bubble of hope and happiness swell up inside of her at the idea of someone like Christian having feelings for her.

 _God, could this really be happening?_

The sound of a throat being cleared interrupted their moment, and Ana and Christian blinked before looking toward the doorway, Christian quickly letting go of Ana's hand. Lily stood before them, glancing between the two with a noticeable scowl on her face.

"Is there any coffee made?" she asked Ana. Her voice was hard, as if she were trying to reign in her anger.

Ana glanced over at the coffee machine. "…Um, no not yet. I can have it ready in about ten minutes."

"Hmph," Lily glared between the two of them one last time before turning on her heel and walking away.

Ana and Christian were silent for a moment. "I'd forgotten there were people in the other room," Ana admitted, and Christian chuckled.

"Me too," he said honestly. "I should probably leave before they all start wondering why I'm taking so long in here."

After giving Ana one last lingering look, he turned to follow Lily out the kitchen door. As he walked away, however, a sudden thought occurred to Ana:

"Christian?" She asked, and he stopped in his tracks. "Were you the one who hung that mistletoe?"

There was a short pause before Christian smiled at her: "No, I wasn't. But to be honest, I'm eternally grateful to the person who did."

* * *

Within the next hour or so, everyone else had gotten up for the day, and Ana (with the help of Eliza and Grace) cooked up a large breakfast of pancakes, bacon, eggs and hashbrowns for everyone. They all ate together at the large dining table, talking excitedly about decorating the tree and unwrapping Christmas presents later that day. Apparently, it was a Grey family tradition to have everybody unwrap just one present on Christmas Eve before unwrapping the rest on Christmas morning, and that's what they were planning to do this afternoon once the tree was decorated.

"Alright people - we have a very large Christmas tree this year, so I think we're all going to have to work in groups in order to decorate it," Grace announced to everyone, clapping her hands together. "Elliot, Carrick and Dad can start on getting the lights on the tree. I think there's a stepping stool in the downstairs closet if you need help reaching the top. Eliza, Justin and Mom can then hang the tinsel garlands. Mia, Lily, and Sean can start hanging the ornaments and put the star on top, and Christian, Ana and I can bring all the presents down to place underneath the tree."

Ana, not missing the fact that she was going to be teamed up with Christian, glanced over at him and blushed, turning away quickly before she could meet his gaze. Their conversation in the kitchen still played in her mind, and she couldn't help but wonder what all of it meant. Her intention had been to diffuse any prospect of her and Christian getting involved in any way - to make sure nothing more would happen between them while they stayed in this house - but somehow the opposite seemed to happen. Her feelings for him were strong before, but now they seemed to burn like a raging inferno, and she had no idea how to stop it now.

Ana bit her lip. How on earth did she manage to get herself into this situation?

Everybody immediately set to work on their respective tasks, and Grace led Christian and Ana upstairs where all the presents were. Christian fell in step beside Ana as they walked up the stairs, and Ana was highly aware of his arm brushing up against hers as they moved along.

"Here we are," Grace said once they reached the den area where all the wrapped presents were stored. It was a huge pile that almost reached the ceiling, and Christian and Ana couldn't help but stare at it in shock. "I apologize - with twelve of us here, there were a lot more Christmas gifts than what I expected," Grace said apologetically. "We'll probably have to take a few trips in order to get them all downstairs…"

The three of them set to work gathering all the colorfully-wrapped gifts in their arms to carry downstairs. Ana reached for a large rectangular-shaped one before suddenly stopping, staring down at the label on it with a frown on her face.

"I'm sorry, but this one is addressed to me?" Ana turned to look up at Grace with a curious frown on her face.

Grace smiled widely at her. "Why yes it is, dear. I'm sorry, we had actually meant for it to be a surprise - Christian went and bought you a Christmas gift that day we all went shopping in town."

Ana turned to look at Christian, her eyebrows raised. "You…?"

"Yes I did," Christian smiled at her. "I felt bad that you were missing out on opening presents with your roommate on Christmas morning, and since you were doing such a wonderful job housekeeping for us, I thought getting you a present would be a proper way of thanking you. I mentioned it to everyone, and they all agreed, so we all pitched to buy a gift for you."

A whole plethora of emotions filled Ana's chest, and all she could do was shake her head, glancing down at the gift in her hands with a bemused expression. "You guys really didn't have to do this… you're already paying off all my student loans - a Christmas gift is too much!"

"Oh, darling - we're more than happy to do this for you," Grace said kindly, walking over to Ana and putting her hand on her arm. "It's really nothing. Just think of it as a Christmas bonus!"

Ana couldn't help but giggle, smiling down at the gift she held in her hands. She felt a swell of affection and happiness grow inside of her. "Now I feel bad I didn't get you guys anything," she said humorously.

Grace and Christian both laughed, and the three of them proceeded to finish gathering up everybody's gifts to bring down to the living room and place under the tree.

* * *

With everybody pitching in with their respective tasks, the Christmas tree was decorated within the hour. Grace, Christian, and Ana piled all of the beautifully-wrapped presents underneath it, making the whole room look even more Christmas-y. Everyone was really in the holiday spirit now, and once they were done decorating, everybody agreed to open their one present for Christmas Eve right at that moment. They all gathered together in the living room, excitedly going through all their gifts and picking out which one they wanted to open.

"I'm going to open my biggest gift - they're always the best," Mia insisted, picking up a large box wrapped in shiny red paper.

"Can I open mine first?" Elliot asked eagerly, picking up his present wrapped in snowflake wrapping paper.

"You know what? I think Ana should open up her gift first," Grace said, and everyone in the room turned to look at Ana. She blushed under all their gazes.

"Oh, no I don't think -" she began, shaking her head, but Carrick interrupted:

"Yes, I think Ana should open hers first," he said with a smile. "It is from all of us, after all."

Everyone else in the room chorused their agreement to that idea, and Ana, still blushing, picked up the box with her name on it and began ripping off the wrapping paper.

It was a rectangular cherry wood chest, about a two feet wide. Curious, Ana lifted the lid, and she froze when she saw its contents - it was a box filled to the brim with the most beautiful, high-quality art supplies she'd ever seen! At least fifty tubes of highly pigmented acrylic paint sat in neatly arranged rows at the bottom of the chest, along with over a dozen paintbrushes of varying shapes and sizes. There was also a pad of professional craft paper, a wooden palette, oil paints, charcoal pencils, essential oils and varnishes for cleaning, and so many other things Ana could see but was too overwhelmed at the moment to name. She could only gaze into the chest, staring at everything as if she couldn't believe it was all real.

"Oh my God…" she whispered, finally looking up at all the Grey's smiling faces. "This is incredible!"

"We knew you'd like it," Mia smiled. "Christian told us how much you love painting, and we figured you could take this back to your art studio in Boulder."

Ana still felt too overwhelmed to speak, and Grace, who seemed to understand, walked over to place her hand on Ana's shoulder. Ana stood up and pulled Grace in for a hug, silently thanking her for the amazing gift, and Grace hugged her back with a smile on her face. Everyone else in the room all laughed and _awwed_ at the sweet gesture.

"Alright, I think we've embarrassed Ana enough," Elliot announced, rubbing his hands together. "I get to open my gift now!"

Everyone laughed, and they all commenced with opening their Christmas Eve gifts, everybody making a fuss on which present they wanted to open and in what order. Ana tried to pay attention to everything going on, but she was much too excited about her new paint set to focus on anything else - every few minutes or so she would find herself looking at all the colors in her new paint set or examining her new brushes, enraptured by their beauty. Every time she glanced back up, she spotted Christian watching her with a small smile on his face, and Ana couldn't help but smile back.

Finally, after over an hour, everyone had opened up their Christmas Eve gift, and Ana set to work helping Grace and Odette clean up all the wrapping paper. Everyone was pretty hungry at this point, so Grace promised to make them all a late lunch.

"Oh, I won't need your help for this dear," Grace said kindly to Ana when she offered to help. "Soup and sandwiches are very easy to make - go and enjoy your new art set. I'll most likely need your help later tonight for making Christmas Eve dinner."

"Okay, thank you Grace," Ana smiled, and began to make her way back to the living room to take her art set up to her room.

On her way back to the staircase, she ran into Christian.

"Christian," Ana said, smiling at him. She gestured to the wooden chest in her arms, shaking her head. "I don't even know what to say…"

"You don't have to say anything," Christian smiled back at her. "I'm glad you like it."

With a grin, Ana shifted the box so it rested against her hip before stepping forward and, on her tiptoes, pressed a sweet kiss to Christian's cheek.

She pulled back slightly so she could gaze into his eyes. "Thank you, Christian. Merry Christmas."

Christian blinked down at her for a moment before smiling, his gray eyes conveying a plethora of emotions. "Merry Christmas, Ana."

Ana gave him one last smile before turning and heading upstairs to her room. She wasn't sure how to sort through her feelings for Christian at the moment, but right now all she knew was that she wanted to enjoy what little time she had with him while she could. Despite their circumstances in life.

Ana had planned on spending a little time checking out her new art set and perhaps even trying out some of the acrylic paints, but the moment she opened the door to her room Lester immediately ran at her, bounding up on his hind legs and barking.

"Do you want to go outside?" Ana asked him, and Lester barked in affirmation. "Alright buddy, let me just find my shoes…"

After putting on her boots, hat and winter coat, Ana made sure Lester's collar was around his neck before taking him downstairs and out onto the back patio. The temperature had dropped below zero last night, and today it was freezing cold, with Ana's breath coming out in white cloud puffs the moment she stepped outside. She shivered as she watched Lester run out into the snow, his paws slipping and sliding a little on some newly formed icy patches.

Ana shivered again, checking her watch. She would just wait for Lester to do his business before taking him back inside. It was far too cold out for them to be out here for very long.

Suddenly, she heard the patio door behind her open and close, and the sound of footsteps crunching on the snow-covered deck as someone approached her. Ana smiled to herself, wondering if Christian had sneaked out for a little one-on-one time with her.

"You think you're so hot, don't you?"

Ana's smile vanished, and she turned around to see Lily standing there in her winter coat while glaring at her. "What?" Ana couldn't help but ask.

"You and Christian - I've noticed the way you keep looking at him," Lily said, narrowing her eyes at her. "I've known Christian for years, and you think you can just waltz right in and steal his heart after knowing him for two fucking seconds? Dream on!"

Ana blinked, not knowing how to respond to that. "I-I don't…"

"You crashed our vacation and charmed the pants off of the whole Grey family," Lily interrupted, taking a step toward her. "You gave them all a bunch of sweet words and pretty smiles… but I can see through all that bullshit." She took another step forward, and Ana instinctively took a step back. There was almost a crazed look in Lily's eyes, and it made Ana nervous. "What did you do, huh? _How much did Christian pay you to suck his dick_?!"

Lily suddenly reached forward and shoved Ana back - it wasn't a hard push, but it caused Ana to stumble backward into an icy patch.

She immediately lost her footing and slipped - she landed hard on her back and her elbow, and her head collided with the icy ground. In a split second, everything had gone black.

* * *

 **A/N: Uh oh, another cliffhanger 0_o**

 **Hope you all enjoyed this chapter! If you did, please review!**


	7. The Injury

**A/N: Thank you to all my reviewers and followers for your lovely support! It definitely means a lot.**

 **Chapter 7: The Injury**

"Everybody, stop crowding her."

"Do you think we should get another cold compress for her head?"

"It's okay, Christian, I think she's waking up…" Ana could hear Grace speak quietly, though it sounded like she was far away in the distance. "Ana?"

"Ana!"

Ana blearily blinked open her eyes, vaguely realizing she was lying on something soft. The ceiling of the living room came into focus, along with the faces of several people leaning over her, gazing down at her in concern. She registered that the back of her head as well as her left elbow throbbed in pain.

"Ow…" she groaned, trying to sit up, but immediately several people reached toward her to make her lie back down again.

"Take it easy, dear, you've had a bit of a nasty fall," Grace chided her gently. "Just lie down and try not to move too much."

Ana blinked again as she tried to focus on her surroundings. She seemed to be lying on the couch in the living room with all the Grey's around her, gazing at her in concern. Christian sat closest to her, his handsome face pale and deeply concerned as he held her hand in both of his own. Grace sat beside him on the foot of the couch, a doctor's stethoscope around her neck. Everyone else stood around the couch, either talking quietly to each other or looking down at Ana with worry. Her head throbbed again, and she grimaced in pain.

"Shh, it's okay - just relax," Christian said quietly, reaching up to gently tuck her hair behind her ear. "Are you in a lot of pain?"

Ana was about to answer, but then her eyes landed on Lily, who was standing further back next to Mia and Sean. She had an unreadable expression on her face as she gazed at Ana before glancing down at the ground.

A strange feeling nagged at Ana… she didn't know what it was at first, but she knew it had something to do with Lily. For a few moments, her befuddled mind couldn't quite place it… but then suddenly, the memory of what had happened came rushing back to her like a tidal wave, and her stomach dropped.

Lily had confronted her outside - she said some horrible things to Ana and then accused her of having sex with Christian. She then shoved Ana backward, causing her to slip and fall on a patch of ice.

 _She did this to me._

Ana felt sick. Did the others know what had happened? Should she tell them? The back of her head suddenly throbbed with pain again, and she winced.

"How long was I out for?" she asked, trying to reach up and touch her head, but the pain in her elbow was too much, and she brought her arm back down with a groan.

"No more than a few minutes," Grace said, gently taking Ana's injured arm in her hands and looking over it. "Luckily, Lily saw you fall right when it happened and came to get me. I was with Christian, and he went outside and carried you in."

Ana blinked before looking over at Christian and then at Lily again. She only gazed back at Ana, her expression a stone mask - the others were clearly oblivious to what had actually transpired, a fact that Ana didn't entirely know how to feel about. She said nothing.

"I fell…" Ana mumbled, looking over at Christian. He nodded.

"Yeah."

"Did anyone else see me?" She couldn't help but ask.

"We just told you - Lily saw you fall," Mia said. "Thank God, too, otherwise none of us would have known what had happened."

Ana didn't say anything - she looked over at Lily again, and once again Lily looked away, avoiding her gaze. Ana felt a powerful emotion stirring in her chest, and she clenched her jaw tightly - the lie Lily had told the others was despicable, since it was clearly done out of selfishness for saving her own ass. Ana knew she should tell everyone the truth, but for some reason she couldn't bring herself to. She wasn't entirely sure why.

"Where's Lester?" she asked Christian, finally looking away from Lily.

"We put him in the mudroom - he was barking up a storm earlier," Christian explained, still holding Ana's hand tightly in his own.

"Do you think she needs to go to the hospital, Mom?" Elliot asked his mother, standing next to his father and gazing at Ana in concern.

"I'm fine," Ana insisted, trying to sit up again, but the pain in her head and arm shot through her body once again, and she winced.

"A trip to the hospital might be a good idea, dear," Grace said seriously. "You hit your head pretty hard, and you very well might have a concussion. Plus, the fact that you're flinching every time I touch your arm tells me you may have fractured your elbow."

Ana stared at Grace, unable to stop the tears filling her eyes - a concussion and a broken arm? This all felt like a nightmare - why on earth did this have to happen to her? On Christmas Eve of all days?

And why couldn't she bring herself to tell everyone the truth of what had actually happened?

"Aspen Valley Hospital is about seven miles away," Mitchell spoke up, looking over a map in his hands. "I'm pretty sure the roads are clear, but we can take my truck just to be safe."

"Are you okay with doing that, Ana?" Christian turned back to Ana, gazing at her imploringly. Ana could only stare at him for a moment before looking down at her arm, trying to quell her emotions - the tears had begun sliding down her cheeks, however.

"I-I don't… know," she stammered tearfully.

"Oh, baby, it's okay," Christian whispered sympathetically, squeezing her hand tighter. "I know you're in pain right now, but we need to take you to the hospital just to make sure everything's alright. Okay?"

Ana didn't respond, and Christian leaned forward to press a sweet kiss to her forehead. He then let go of her hand before sliding his arms underneath her body - he lifted her up bridal style off the couch, and Ana, despite the pain she was in, couldn't help but feel comforted at being carried around like this in his arms.

"Grandpa - go start up your truck, Ana and I will sit in the backseat. Mom, you should come with us too, and maybe bring an ice pack and your doctor bag."

"Of course, dear," Grace said. "Would anyone else like to come with us?"

Odette agreed to go along with them, but no one else did, much to Ana's relief. She was thankful for their concern, but she was starting to feel a bit crowded with everyone standing around her like this. Plus, the last thing she wanted to do right now was be around Lily anymore.

Ana's arm throbbed with pain again, and she tucked it up against her body, grasping it tightly with her other hand. Christian gazed down at her, concern etched all over his handsome face.

"Let's go," he said firmly, and after Grace had placed a blanket over Ana's body to stave off the cold, Christian had whisked her away outside and into Mitchell's waiting truck.

* * *

The ride to the hospital was awful - every turn and bump on the road caused pain to shoot through Ana's arm and head, and despite the ice packs Grace had placed against her sore spots, nothing seemed to really help. Christian sat in the seat beside her, keeping his arm wrapped around her shoulders while making sure the blanket on her kept her warm. Ana was grateful for his attention, although she couldn't let herself enjoy it too much - what Lily had said and done to her still resonated, making her feel rather queasy in addition to the pain of her injuries.

Lily was a horrible, underhanded bitch for doing what she did and lying about it, but Ana couldn't bring herself to reveal the truth to anyone. She knew that telling the others that Lily had pushed her would only result in a huge argument, and would most likely cause more unnecessary drama and animosity among the Grey family. Also, a small part of her was afraid what Lily had said to her was true to an extent - that maybe she _was_ just an interloper who was deluding herself into thinking she could actually be with a guy like Christian.

 _Why am I letting her get into my head?_

They finally arrived at the hospital, and Mitchell pulled up to the front doors while Christian, Grace, and Odette helped Ana step out of the truck and walk through the hospital doors. The place wasn't too busy, thankfully, and they were able to talk to the nurse behind the front desk right away. There were some forms Ana needed to fill out, which Christian was kind enough to do for her since her arm was hurting too much to do it herself.

"Hold on - I need to find my insurance information," Ana said, looking through her purse Grace had been thoughtful enough to grab for her before they left.

"Don't worry about it Ana. I'll cover your hospital bills," Christian said, writing something on the clipboard.

Ana stopped and stared at him, a frown on her face. "What? No, you don't have to do that - my insurance covers emergency room visits."

"Not when the doctors are out of your network, otherwise you'll have to pay out of pocket," Christian said firmly, and he glanced up at her. "I have your financial information, remember?"

Ana stared at him for a moment before narrowing her eyes suspiciously. "How on earth would you know if this hospital is out of my network?"

Christian hesitated, and Ana knew she had caught him. "Okay, I don't actually know if this hospital is out of your network, but that doesn't change the fact that I'm covering your hospital bill. End of story."

"Christian…" Ana began.

"Ana, I'm not arguing you about this. You are my employee and you got injured while at work on my property - it is my responsibility to ensure all your medical expenses are covered. I will pay for everything - please don't worry about it."

His voice was firm, and it made Ana feel even worse, if that were possible. He had paid for so many things since she arrived - her luggage being shipped here, her student loans, that professional paint set as a Christmas gift, and now this. It was starting to feel like charity at this point, and Lily's words which had been ringing inside her head the entire car trip here seemed to hit her once again - she really didn't matter.

To Christian, she must have seemed like this poor little creature with no money or connections, hoping desperately for a chance to get a taste of high society life, and he came swooping in like the proverbial white knight. He kept her around for the holidays so he could flaunt his wealth and power over her, dazzling her with his vast amounts of money and fortune. Surely, that had to have been the reason why Christian was attracted to her - she was the perfect audience.

 _Oh my God, maybe Lily was right._

"...I can't do this," Ana whispered to herself, staring down at the floor. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Christian look over at her in confusion.

At that moment, Grace and Odette appeared alongside a nurse in scrubs pushing an empty wheelchair, and the three women and Christian helped Ana into the chair, despite the fact she was perfectly capable of walking by herself.

They pushed her down an adjacent carpeted hallway before turning into a long sterile-white room with hospital beds along the walls, each bed separated by blue curtains. Most of the beds here were empty, so the nurse brought her over to the one nearest to the door.

"Alright, Ms. Steele - I'm just going to ask you a few questions about what happened, and then the doctor's going to come by with his own evaluation. We're likely going to take you in for an x-ray for your elbow, just to rule out a fracture or a break. Worst case scenario, we'll have to put a cast on you for a few weeks while your bone heals, but we won't jump to conclusions just yet. Okay?"

Ana nodded silently, getting up out of the chair and into the hospital bed. Christian reached forward to help her move, and although she appreciated his attentiveness to her, she wished he wouldn't make such a fuss. Grace and Odette then excused themselves, saying they were going to call the others and tell them what was going on.

For the next few minutes, the nurse asked Ana about her accident, and Ana told her the truth - at the least the truth that Christian and the others had heard. She had tripped and fallen on the ice when taking her dog outside... the tripping and falling part was true, at least. and the nurse didn't seem to question that part of the story, thankfully.

"…And you, sir. What's your relationship to Ms. Steele?" the nurse turned to Christian inquisitively.

"I'm her employer," Christian said, glancing over at Ana. "She's housekeeping for me and my family over Christmas vacation, and she got injured while on the job, so I'll be covering her hospital expenses."

Ana blushed before looking away, not meeting his gaze.

"Well, that's a very considerate boss you got there, Ms. Steele," the nurse smiled at Ana, scribbling something down on her clipboard. "I think I have everything I need at the moment. The doctor should be coming around in a few minutes, and once he gives his evaluation of your injuries, we'll take you down to radiology for an x-ray. Alright?"

"Alright," Ana nodded, and the nurse smiled at her before walking away.

"A fracture wouldn't be that bad, Ana," Christian said reassuringly to her the moment the nurse left. "Your injuries could have definitely been worse. Plus, my mother told me that more than likely you just bruised your bone, which I know can hurt a lot, but it would heal pretty quickly. You should be good as new in no time."

Ana glanced down at her injured arm and nodded, not wanting to meet Christian's gaze. Her feelings about this whole situation were very scattered, but in all the hurt and confusion swirling about in her mind, she finally seemed to make a decision about what she wanted to do.

And the thought of it hurt deeply.

"Hey," Christian said quietly, noticing the look on her face. He took her hand in his again and squeezed gently. "Everything's going to be okay, Ana - everybody trips and falls sometimes, especially up here in the mountains where it's icy and cold. You have nothing to feel embarrassed about."

Ana still didn't say anything, though the sick feeling in her stomach persisted.

She felt the bed beside her dip as Christian sat down beside her, and she finally looked up at him. He stared into her eyes before bringing his hand up to cup her cheek gently. "Ana, tell me... what's wrong? What is it you need?"

Ana swallowed, feeling a lump grow in her throat.

"I want to go home."

The look that appeared on Christian's face was one Ana would never forget - he blinked in surprise as some unreadable emotion flickered across his features briefly, quickly being replaced with sadness and disbelief. His eyes searched hers as if he wondered if she was serious - when he realized she was, he slowly brought his hand down, still gazing into her eyes with that same, hurt expression.

It was heartbreak.

Ana knew how he felt because she felt it too - it was a horrible, all-consuming emotion, but she didn't say anything about it as she continued to gaze into his eyes, trying to keep her tears from falling.

Thankfully, at that moment the doctor appeared, followed immediately by Grace, Mitchell and Odette, who had finished up their call back to the house. The doctor proceeded to introduce himself as Dr. Larston to everyone and then began asking Ana questions about what had happened to her, much like how the nurse had done earlier. Ana answered him as best she could, giving him the same story as she did the nurse - she was very aware of Christian sitting next to her on the bed, but she tried her hardest not to look at him as she focused on the doctor.

Dr. Larston ended up ordering an x-ray for her arm as well as treatment for a potential concussion - he recommended Ana stay at the hospital overnight just for observation, and then she would be be released tomorrow morning. Ana and the other Grey's agreed to that, and pretty soon an orderly appeared with a wheelchair to take her to radiology. The doctor asked Christian, Grace, Mitchell and Odette to stay in the ER while Ana got her x-ray, for which she couldn't help but feel grateful. Christian's presence was making her heart ache, and she needed a break from him, even if it was just a temporary one.

* * *

The x-ray was quick and painless, and once it was done, Ana got her arm wrapped up in a white sling before being brought to her own private room overlooking the mountains of Aspen. She stared out the window from her bed, wishing she could enjoy the view, but not being able to bring herself to really appreciate it. She suspected Christian had paid extra for a room like this, which somehow made her feel even worse.

More than anything, Ana wished she could be back home in Boulder with Kate, celebrating Christmas with her and the other Kavanagh's while not having to deal with work or life or relationships. At the very least, she wouldn't have to stay at a hospital in an unfamiliar city with a mangled-up arm and a concussion.

 _Not to mention a broken heart_.

Just as Ana's thoughts began to take this depressing turn, she heard a knock on her door.

"Hello?" Grace appeared with a smile, followed immediately by Odette, Mitchell, and Christian. "Ana?"

"Hi," Ana smiled as they all approached her bed. "They just finished up my x-ray, and I'm going to be staying here overnight so the doctors can make sure I don't have a concussion."

"That's good," Grace nodded approvingly. "You can never be too careful with injuries like that. How's your arm doing?"

"It's feeling a little better," Ana said, glancing down at her sling. "The doctor hasn't given me any meds yet, so the fact that the pain is going down is probably a good sign."

"It definitely is," Grace smiled widely. "I'm sure everything will be just fine, Ana."

Ana smiled at her before glancing around at the other Grey's, her eyes lingering on Christian. "You know, you guys don't have to stay here at the hospital with me. I'll be perfectly fine here on my own."

"Nonsense, dear," Odette piped up in a conciliatory tone. "It's Christmas Eve - you shouldn't have to spend it all alone in a hospital room!"

"You guys shouldn't either," Ana countered right back. "You and your whole family came to Aspen this year to spend Christmas together at Christian's house - don't let my injuries spoil that for all of you. I'll be fine here on my own, I promise."

"Are you sure?" Mitchell asked dubiously, and Ana smiled at him.

"Hey, I actually get television here," she nodded to the flat screen LCD TV mounted on the wall opposite her bed, and Mitchell and the others chuckled. "And I got a phone next to my bed so I can call my dad or my roommate if I needed to talk to someone. I'll be totally fine here on my own, I promise."

The Grey's all glanced at each other. "If you're sure…" Grace said doubtfully, turning back to Ana. She stepped forward and leaned down to give her a hug around her good shoulder. "Take care of yourself, dear - we'll all come by to pick you up first thing tomorrow morning. And be sure to call us at the house if you need anything at all between now and tomorrow."

"I will, Grace," Ana assured her, hugging her back.

Odette and Mitchell both hugged Ana goodbye, expressing their hope that she would feel better soon. Christian was the last one to say goodbye, and he stepped forward, gazing down at her for a moment before turning to the other three.

"Do you mind giving us a minute?" he asked them. "I'll meet you guys at the car."

"Of course," Grace smiled, giving her son and Ana a knowing look. She, Odette and Mitchell all filed out of the room and closed the door behind them, leaving Christian and Ana alone together.

There was a heavy silence as neither of them seemed to want to speak first. Christian turned to look at Ana, sighing slightly before bringing his hand up and running his fingers through his hair.

"…You said that you wanted to go home," he said after a moment, and Ana looked up at him. He finally brought his hand down, gazing into Ana's eyes. "Is that still the case?"

Feeling a lump in her throat, Ana glanced away from him before nodding silently. There was a short pause.

"Is this because I wouldn't let you pay your hospital bill?" Christian asked, partially joking but Ana could detect an undercurrent of worry in his voice.

"No," she said, looking back up at him. "This isn't about that, Christian. I just feel that, considering what happened, I wouldn't be much use around the house anymore. I don't want to be a burden on you guys once I get released from the hospital."

"You would never be a burden on us, Ana," Christian said imploringly, moving over to sit on the edge of her bed. "We all care about you, and none of us would make you do something you weren't capable of doing."

"Christian…" Ana said wearily before closing her eyes and looking away. Why did he have to make this more difficult than it had to be? "You knew that we were going to have to say goodbye eventually."

Christian was silent for a moment, and Ana glanced up at him. The sad, pained expression on his face broke Ana's heart all over again. "…I know," he said quietly after a moment. He looked down at the floor. "I guess I was just hoping to delay the inevitable."

Ana reached over and gently took Christian's hand in her own, and Christian looked down at their joined hands. "I don't want you to think I'm ungrateful, Christian," Ana said sincerely. "Because I'm not - I'm deeply appreciative everything you and your family have done for me over the last few days, honestly I am. But I feel like now's the time for me to move on and go home."

Christian continued to gaze down at their entwined hands, and finally he nodded, though he did so reluctantly. "I understand," he said quietly, and he looked back up at her. "I'm going to miss you though."

Ana didn't say anything, though she felt tears fill her eyes, causing her to look away. The truth was that she didn't want to admit to him - or to herself, for that matter - that she was scared. She was scared of what Lily might do to her if she stayed at the house with them even one more night. She was scared to find out more about Christian's troubled past that he had alluded to, and if Lily was a part of that history. She was scared that her feelings for Christian were becoming too strong too quickly, and that she had never even remotely felt this way about someone before.

Above all else, however, she was scared of getting her heart broken, which she knew was an inevitable outcome of this situation. It was easier to just walk away now.

Gazing into her eyes, Christian slowly leaned forward and pressed his lips to Ana's in a gentle kiss, expressing to her without words how much he would miss her. Ana kissed him back, wishing more than anything that their circumstances could be different.

* * *

 **A/N: So yeah - sorry about that :( This is HEA though, let me remind you.**

 **If you enjoyed this chapter, please leave a review! The next chapter - Christian's POV :)**


	8. Goodbye

**A/N: Wow guys - all your reactions to last chapter really made my head spin lol. Hope this one is to your satisfaction.**

 **Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

 **Chapter 8: Goodbye**

Christian felt like he was in a daze as he followed his mother and grandparents out to the car to leave the hospital - his mind was swimming with everything Ana had said to him, and he was having a hard time fully comprehending it all. Grace, Mitchell and Odette all seemed to register his mood, and they didn't say anything as they all headed out to Mitchell's truck so they could go back to the house.

Ana had said she wanted to go back home to Boulder as soon as she was released from the hospital. After the injuries she had sustained, that was understandable, but the mere thought of her leaving early was surprisingly painful to Christian. Ana's presence these past few days had unwittingly brought light and happiness into his life, evoking feelings inside of him he had never felt before. He hated seeing her so broken and upset, and he wished more than anything he could make all her pain go away.

"She'll be alright, Christian," Grace said quietly to her son, and Christian looked over at her. "I got her room's phone number and extension from the nurse back in her ward, so we can call her tonight and see how she's doing. At the moment, though, I think she just wants to be alone."

Christian nodded silently, not saying anything as they all got into Mitchell's truck and drove off, heading down the snowy Aspen highway toward the house.

Honestly, Christian hadn't really wanted to go on an Aspen Christmas vacation with his entire family - in years past, he had simply worked through the holidays and sometimes exchanged presents with his parents and siblings over at the Grey Estate on Christmas Day. This year, however, his mother had suggested they go on a trip to Aspen with the whole family, and he'd felt obligated to say yes to her. Considering how much shit she and Carrick had put up with after finding out about his past with Elena and his alternative sexual lifestyle, they deserved something normal like a happy family vacation.

Christian thought back to the events of this past year, and couldn't help but reflect on them with a bit of melancholy. During the summer this past year, he had had a submissive named Leila Williams, who had very nearly ruined everything for him. Christian had figured out only a few weeks into their contract that she was completely crazy - she would follow him around the house, leave suggestive notes on his bedside cabinet, and address him by his first name in an attempt to elicit a reaction from him. At first Christian ignored her attempts to engage him, hoping their sessions in the playroom would bring her to heel, but barely two months had gone by before he had decided to end his contract with her, annoyed and frustrated by her relentless behavior.

However, him ending their contract only seemed to make matters worse: Leila became enraged that he would do such a thing to her, and in an act of revenge, she stalked him everywhere he went. Once or twice she even made a scene out in front of the GEH building while he was at work. When none of that worked, however, she pulled out the big guns - she found out where Christian's parents lived and visited them one evening. She bragged to them about everything she and Christian had done together, including how the two of them were introduced by Elena Lincoln and they were involved in the BDSM lifestyle.

Carrick and Grace had been confused and horrified by what Leila had told them, and it was probably one of the worst moments of Christian's life when he had to explain to them who Leila was and that everything she had said was true, right as the woman herself was being arrested by the police in front of their Bellevue estate.

Christian then explained to his parents that Elena had seduced him when he was fifteen years old, which was clearly the hardest for them to digest. They were angry and upset about the whole situation, but their support for their son never wavered, much to Christian's surprise and relief.

For months afterward, Carrick and Grace had insisted upon playing a more active role in Christian's life, lamenting how many years they missed out on due to Elena's influence over him. Christian went along with it, mostly because he was grateful his family hadn't completely turned their backs on him when they had learned of his proclivities. He honestly wanted to be the type of son his parents would be proud of, and so after the whole Leila debacle, he had all but given up his BDSM lifestyle and cut all contact from Elena Lincoln, realizing that her presence in his life had been nothing but toxic.

Now that it was Christmas-time, Grace had insisted they all spend a week in Aspen for the holidays. It was meant to be a fun relaxing getaway, and Christian agreed to it all, thinking that there was probably worse ways to spend a week away from the world.

As it turned out, Christian had found himself to be very much enjoying this vacation, but most of it was because of one Anastasia Steele.

Christian mindlessly gazed out the side window of his grandfather's truck, his thoughts drifting to Anastasia. He smiled to himself - he had first laid eyes on her several days ago, although it felt like much more time had passed at this point. He remembered following his mother over the threshold of the house before glancing up and laying eyes on the most beautiful woman he'd ever seen. Her long, wavy chestnut brown hair falling over her slim shoulders, her petite frame, and her large, clear blue doe eyes, which stared at him with surprise and wariness at his and his mother's sudden appearance. Despite Christian's immediate attraction to her, he realized that she probably wasn't supposed to be there, and he tried his best to tamp down his desire for her until he could figure out if she was an intruder or not.

Thankfully, she wasn't. As it turned out, Gail had hired her as a fill-in housekeeper for Mrs. Henderson - she was a recent college graduate, and she had been cleaning the house part-time for the past four months or so. Taylor had run a background check on Anastasia before hiring her, though he hadn't felt the need to inform Christian about her. Seeing as she was a temporary housekeeper for his out-of-state property, her employment shouldn't have really concerned him - however, Christian very much wished Taylor had said something. Never in a million years did Christian expect a girl like Anastasia to be working for him, and yet here she was, plain as day.

And now that she was here, he wanted to do everything in his power to ensure she stayed.

These past few days with her had been like a wonderful dream he never wanted to wake up from. He didn't think he would ever feel this way about a girl before, but the moment he laid eyes on Anastasia, he knew he wanted her any way he could have her. And he could tell by the way she looked at him - the way her cheeks blushed prettily when she smiled at him - that she wanted him too. The mere thought of that was deeply satisfying to Christian.

He smiled as he thought about his time with Ana so far - talking with her, laughing with her, going on hikes with her, dancing with her in the living room, and kissing her under the mistletoe. For a few wonderful days, he was able to enjoy himself like a normal, twenty-eight-year-old man in the company of a smart, sweet, beautiful young woman and try not to think about the fact that she would be leaving forever once Christmas was over with.

Actually she was leaving sooner now that she had been injured. Christian's heart plummeted at the thought.

 _This day just keeps getting better and better._

Mitchell finally pulled up to the house and parked in the driveway. Everyone got out and began making their way to the front door, and Christian's eyes couldn't help gravitating toward Ana's small beat-up blue Volkswagon Beetle parked next to all the other cars.

"Everything will work out, son," Mitchell said to Christian bracingly. Christian turned to look at him, and he clapped his hand on his shoulder. "I promise - situations like this always find a way of working themselves out."

Christian merely grimaced, not saying anything. He wanted to believe his grandfather's words, but at the moment he couldn't bring himself to.

They entered the house, and noticed some of the others laying out a large spread of food on the dining room table - there were platters of finger sandwiches and cold cuts, crackers and cheese slices, olives and prosciutto kebabs. Christian stared at all the food, a little surprised to see such a large spread.

"Oh hi guys," Eliza greeted them, coming out of the kitchen with another plate of prosciutto kebabs and setting them on the table. "Justin and I figured that since Ana's out of commission, and we didn't know if you guys would be back in time for dinner, we should just put out some finger foods for everyone to eat buffet-style. I hope that's alright."

Grace, who Christian knew had been planning to cook a nice meal for everyone with Ana's help, let out a resigned sigh. "Yes, I suppose that would be for the best, considering the circumstances. Thank you, Eliza - this all looks delicious."

Everyone went and got plates in the kitchen before moving along the dining table, filling up their plates with selections of the food laid out before them. Christian couldn't really say he had much of an appetite, but since skipping a meal was out of the question, he loaded up his plate like everyone else did and listened idly as Odette explained to the others what was going on with Ana's treatment.

Mia and Lily were standing at one end of the table with half-filled plates of food in their hands, talking to each other in hushed tones. No one could really make out what they were saying, but it sounded like they were arguing about something.

"…Hey, what's going on over there?" Grace interrupted, frowning over at her daughter and Lily. The two girls looked up.

"Nothing," Lily said immediately.

"I was just asking Lily why she didn't want to go with you guys to the hospital," Mia explained, shooting her friend a disdainful look. "I'd figured that since she was the one who had seen Ana fall, she could have given the doctors a more accurate account of what had happened."

"What's to tell? She fell down and hit her head," Lily shrugged. "The doctors don't need me to tell them that in order to treat her, so what did it matter?"

"It could have helped," Mia argued right back, glaring at her angrily. "Why are you being so stubborn about this?"

" _I'm_ being stubborn…?!"

"Ladies," Odette piped up, stopping them. "Enough - Ana's being treated at the hospital as we speak, and she's going to be perfectly fine. You two can stop arguing, it's not going to solve anything."

"Yeah," Lily snapped at Mia, who rolled her eyes at her. "And don't tell me I wasn't being helpful! As soon as I saw Ana fall, I went into the house to get your mother - Ana would probably still be passed out in the snow if it wasn't for me!"

Lily immediately stalked away toward the living room, and Mia growled in frustration, stomping after her. There was a brief silence amongst everyone after they left.

"Well, Lily is being her usual enjoyable self today," Elliot scoffed, reaching over the table to grab a few kebabs to put on his plate. "I never understood what Mia ever saw in her."

Christian looked over at his father, who was gazing after Mia and Lily thoughtfully. "What's wrong, Dad?"

Carrick glanced over at Christian before shaking his head. "Nothing… just something Lily said."

Christian frowned. "What was it?"

Carrick sighed. "She said that as soon as she saw Ana fall outside, she went to go get Grace," he explained. "I'm just wondering why her first instinct was to go find someone else after seeing Ana fall. I know that if _I_ saw someone wipe out on the ice, I would go out to make sure that person was okay before I went to get help. It's just odd that she did that, that's all."

Christian's frown deepened - now that he thought about it, why _didn't_ Lily go and make sure Ana was okay before she went and got somebody? That should have been the natural order of events, and yet Lily insisted she had gone to get Grace right away.

 _Something isn't right._

Setting down his plate, Christian turned around and strode over to the staircase. Behind him, he heard Carrick set down his own plate of food and follow him.

"Christian? What's going on?" he asked, hurrying after Christian up the stairs.

"I think you're right - what Lily said doesn't really add up," Christian said to his father, not breaking his stride. "I have security tapes on every entrance of this property, and one of them probably recorded Ana slipping and falling. I want to see if what Lily said happened afterwards was true or not."

Christian entered his study with Carrick right behind him - Christian went to sit behind his computer and clicked on to the desktop program which allowed him to view the security tapes. Carrick walked over and stood behind him.

"I'm going to let slide the fact that you had a computer in here the whole time, son," he said, a hint of amusement in his voice.

Christian didn't say anything as the live security feed appeared onscreen. The screen was divided into four black-and-white boxes, each one showing the live feed of a different entrance of the house. Christian pointed at the top left one.

"That's the back patio," he explained. "That's where Ana slipped and fell."

He rewound the recording back a few hours, around the time he knew Ana had fallen. At around the one-thirty mark, he saw Ana step out onto the patio with Lester in her arms - she set him down and he immediately began running around in the snow. Ana stood watching him for a minute or so when Lily suddenly stepped out onto the patio and snuck up behind her. Lily then said something, and Ana turned around, seeing her standing there.

"Lily didn't mention this part…" Carrick muttered, frowning as he watched the video play out.

The security tapes had no sound, but judging from Lily and Ana's body language, it was clear they were having an argument of sorts. Lily seemed to be advancing upon Ana, shouting something at her, and Ana was backing away, looking scared. Lily suddenly reached forward and shoved Ana back, and Ana slipped and fell on what was clearly an ice patch. Christian saw her hit her head and her elbow hard on the ground, and a moment later she lay completely still, clearly unconscious. Lily only stared at Ana, backing away from her slowly, before suddenly turning around and running back into the house. There was about thirty seconds of nothing happening until Christian saw himself and Grace run out onto the patio to make sure Ana was okay.

Christian felt himself shaking, the anger and rage building up inside him almost overwhelming.

Fucking Lily - that goddamn, motherfucking, manipulative spoiled lying bitch!

 _She almost killed Ana!_

Suddenly, Ana's decision to leave made perfect sense to Christian - she clearly didn't want to be in the same house as Lily anymore! And who could blame her? That fucking bitch had been nothing but condescending and rude to Ana throughout this whole trip, and now she had gone too fucking far.

"Christian…" Carrick said, placing his hand on his son's shoulder. Christian was too angry to pay his father any attention, however, and he leapt to his feet.

"That bitch is fucking dead," he growled angrily, storming out of his study with Carrick hot on his heels.

Downstairs in the living room, Mia and Lily seemed to be resuming their argument from earlier, shouting angrily at each other from across the room. The others were trying to intervene and stop the argument with little to no success, and it wasn't helped by Lester, who was running around the room and barking up a storm.

"ENOUGH!" Christian yelled at the top of his lungs, causing everyone's yelling and bickering to go silent. Even Lester had stopped barking.

Christian silently stalked across the room toward Lily, who cowered under his murderous gaze. She flinched as he grasped her tightly by her upper arm, tugging her hard. " _G_ _et out of my house_ ," he hissed through clenched teeth, and she stared up at him with wide, scared eyes.

"Christian," Grace gasped, clearly shocked by his actions. The others remained silent, staring warily at him.

"Ana didn't slip and fall on the ice on accident," Christian growled, still glaring daggers at Lily. He felt a small amount of satisfaction upon seeing her eyes widen with panic. "Lily went outside and pushed her."

The others gasped.

"What?!" Eliza yelped.

"Holy shit," Elliot exclaimed, looking dumbfounded.

"Oh my God, I KNEW it!" Mia screeched angrily, turning her glare on Lily. "I KNEW you were hiding something! You _pushed_ her?!"

"I-I… I didn't," Lily stammered, glancing wide-eyed between Christian and Mia. "Did… did Ana say something?"

Christian bristled. "No, but my security tapes did," he snapped, still grasping Lily tightly by the arm. She cringed. "It showed the whole damn thing! You really thought you could get away with injuring an innocent girl and sending her to the hospital!?"

"I… I don't… it-it was an _accident_!" Lily wailed, desperate tears filling her eyes. "I swear, I had just meant to push her back slightly - I didn't realize it was so icy out and that she would fall on her head!"

For several moments, nobody said anything. The silence was deafening.

"Oh my God," Grace shook her head, pressing a hand to her mouth.

"I can't believe this," Mitchell grumbled, glaring daggers at Lily.

"You have one hour to pack up all your things and get the hell out of my house," Christian hissed, and Lily gazed up at him in fear. "I don't care where the hell you go, but you are no longer welcome on my property. Get the fuck out of here."

His hard grip on her loosened as he finally pushed her roughly away, and Lily stumbled slightly. She turned around to gaze at the others, who were all staring at her with a mixture of anger and disgust.

"Mia?" Lily beseeched, clearly hoping for some help from her friend.

"You heard my brother," Mia growled at her, her arms crossed in front of her chest as she glared at her ex-friend. "Get the hell out of this house, you lowlife bitch."

Lily only stared at Mia for a few moments, clearly shocked by her words, before finally turning around and rushing away up the stairs. Christian heard her let out a strangled sob.

Mia walked over the the couch and planted herself down on it, suddenly burying her face in her hands and starting to cry in anger and frustration. Odette moved over to comfort her while everybody else began talking quietly with each other about what had just happened. Christian didn't say anything - he couldn't understand all the emotions raging around inside his head at the moment, and so he brought his hands up to run through his hair, tugging on the copper locks helplessly.

"Christian," Grace approached her son, gently reaching up and pulling his arms down; Christian let them drop uselessly by his sides. "I'm so sorry about this whole mess."

"I just don't understand," Christian said, frowning as he shook his head and looked back up at his mother. "Why didn't Ana say anything? She knew this whole time that Lily was the one who had hurt her, but she still went through with the lie. Why couldn't she tell us the truth?"

"I'm sure she wanted to," Grace said sympathetically. "But you have to see it from her perspective. We're her employers, and even though we've been friendly to her over these past few days, she's still basically a stranger to us. How would she know how we would react to her accusing Lily of hurting her? How would she know we wouldn't send her away?"

"We wouldn't have sent her away!" Christian insisted vehemently. "We would have listened to her! How could she not know how much we all care about her?"

"I know we do, dear," Grace said patiently. "And I can understand your anger. It's become very clear to all of us how much you and Ana have come to care about each other over these past few days. I'm sure that's what set off Lily in the first place and what made her confront Ana outside today."

Christian didn't say anything as he absorbed his mother's words. He could honestly say there was no one else he hated more right now than Lily - not only did she put Ana in the hospital, but she put lies in her head and made her doubt Christian's feelings for her. While he wished more than anything that Ana had been honest with him about her injuries, a small part of him could understand why she hid the truth, especially since Lily had made her feel so insecure about how he felt about her. Ana was going to leave tomorrow thinking that he, Christian, wanted nothing to do with her.

 _Well, not if I have anything to fucking say about it._

"We can't let Ana leave tomorrow, Mom," Christian insisted, turning his gaze back on his mother. "Not like this - it wouldn't be right."

"What do you suggest we do then?" Grace asked worriedly.

Christian frowned, his mind working hard trying to find a solution to this problem. A part of him wanted to just rush back to the hospital and tell her he knew the truth, tell her he knew what Lily had done to her. He wanted to tell her how he really felt… he glanced over toward the staircase, and an idea began to form in his mind.

"All of us will go to the hospital early tomorrow morning to visit Ana before she's released," Christian said firmly, turning back toward his mother. "Tell the others. I have a few phone calls to make beforehand."

Christian turned around to head toward the staircase, but Grace stopped him. "Christian - what are you planning, exactly?"

Christian looked at his mother, and he couldn't fight the small grin spreading on his face. "I'm going to bring her home."

* * *

 **A/N: Hope you all enjoyed that! If you did, please review.**

 **I'm sad to say that the next chapter will be the last one :( But anyway, I hope to see you all there!**


	9. Christmas Day

**A/N: Thank you all for sticking with my story until the very end! Hope you like this next chapter.**

 **Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

* * *

 **Chapter 9: Christmas Day**

It was now officially Christmas morning, and Ana felt totally miserable.

It was the same type of misery she remembered feeling as a kid whenever she was sick and had to stay home from school for the day. Her parents would make her stay in bed, and since she was too sick to see her friends or do anything fun, she would just spend hours and hours lying around and watching TV or staring at the wall, feeling bored out of her skull. She felt like she was in the same situation now as an adult, except now it wasn't her mom who was forcing her to stay in bed - it was a stupid hospital rule.

 _Ugh…_ Ana was so ready to leave at this point, but she had to wait for the nurse to bring around her discharge papers before she could. Until then, she was stuck doing absolutely nothing.

Ana hadn't even been hurt that badly, so staying in her room felt utterly pointless. The x-ray from yesterday thankfully showed that her arm didn't have a break or a fracture, but rather just a bruised radius bone. It was a small bruise located right below her elbow, and it was likely going to be rather tender for the next few days. One of the nurses had come by and had wrapped up Ana's elbow in a black arm brace she saw athletes wear sometimes, and then she taped an ice pack to the bruised area, saying that the cold would reduce any inflammation. While the ice pack did help with the pain a little, Ana fervently wished she could take it off since the icy cold compress was horribly uncomfortable.

Ana had spent most of the afternoon yesterday just lying in her hospital bed and watching TV by herself with the ice pack on her arm. She got no calls or visitors, and she couldn't help but feel a little lonely because of it - the only visitors she had were the nurses who would come in and check up on her to see how her head and arm were doing.

Ana had never really considered herself a social butterfly, but she figured that staying at that house with all the Grey's for the past few days had just made her more accustomed to living with a large group of people day in and day out. Even when the Grey's weren't there, she still had Lester to keep her company.

 _God, I miss my puppy dog._

Ana sighed as she turned and glanced over at the phone sitting on her bedside table. She hadn't told her dad or Kate yet about what had happened to her - since she was driving back home to Boulder today, she was going to see Kate anyway and then explain to her what had happened. She knew Kate was going to make a big fuss over her, so Ana didn't call her in the hopes of holding off the inevitable. She also didn't want to call Ray since she knew he would just worry about her and insist he come down from Montesano to see her in Colorado. Honestly, she loved her dad and she missed him dearly, but she knew he didn't have a lot of money, and he couldn't afford to fly down here and stay in a hotel for a few days, especially during the holidays. She would be sure to Skype him once she got back to Boulder and try to downplay her injuries as much as possible.

Just as Ana was thinking about what time she could Skype her dad, one of the nurses walked into her room.

"Good morning, Ana," she smiled brightly, holding a clipboard in her hand. Ana recognized this one as Emily, a nurse with freckles and light red hair tied back in a ponytail. "How are you feeling today?"

"Much better, thank you," Ana smiled at her. "Am I getting released?"

"It looks like it," Emily smiled, glancing over Ana's chart. "There have been no complications with your concussion, and obviously your x-ray showed no fracture or break in your arm. How's your pain?"

"It's getting better. The ice helps," Ana said, gesturing to the now-lukewarm ice pack still strapped to her arm.

"Well, that's good. I'll get you a fresh ice pack and maybe a dose of aspirin before you leave," Emily nodded, making a note on the chart. "Aside from that, though, I think you should be free to go. I'll draw up your discharge papers and then we can get you out of here. Sound good?"

"Great," Ana gave her a small smile, and Emily beamed back at her before turning and walking out of the room.

Ana sighed as she glanced over toward the phone on her bedside table once again. Now that she was leaving, she couldn't help but feel a bit disheartened that none of the Grey's had bothered to call her last night or this morning, if only just to see how she was doing or what her test results were. She knew that none of the Grey's really owed her anything, but it would have been nice for them to show at least a little concern for her, especially since she was probably never going to see them again.

 _I'm really going to miss them_.

It was surprising at how true that thought was. She was really going to miss the whole Grey family… one Grey in particular she would miss more than anyone else, she was sure.

After Christian had kissed her yesterday, he left the hospital room without another word, and she hadn't heard anything from him since. Ana was now convinced that that kiss was his way of saying goodbye to her - she hated thinking of it that way, but she had to accept it as truth since her heart was too fragile at the moment to hope for anything more. Ana wished more than anything that things could be different with them, but Christian was his own man with a long and complicated past, and as Lily had made it clear to her the other day, Ana would just be fooling herself to think she could have Christian all to herself.

She had to let him go.

With a small sigh, Ana pulled out her cell phone (which thankfully had reception here at the hospital) and called for an uber to pick her up within the hour. None of the Grey's had called to offer her a ride back to the house once she was released from the hospital, and she didn't want to impose upon them anymore than she already had.

It was better this way, Ana had convinced herself - separating herself as much as possible from the whole Grey family would preserve her heart for what she knew was going to end up happening. Thankfully, after today, she was never going to see any of them ever again, so the pain of seeing Christian one last time would be short-lived.

It was better this way… at least that's what Ana had to keep telling herself.

* * *

Within thirty minutes, Emily had given Ana her release papers, and now she was finally free to go. Another nurse now pushed her down the hallway in a wheelchair toward the front doors - Ana could have easily walked to the exit, but since it was hospital policy for all patients to leave in a wheelchair, Ana begrudgingly sat in hers as the nurse pushed her down the hall, feeling useless as she checked her phone to see if her uber was here yet.

"…Are you going to be able to get home alright, dear?" the nurse pushing Ana's wheelchair asked. They were now in the expansive front lobby, which was decorated to the high heavens with Christmas decorations, tinsel garlands and string lights. Christmas music was playing quietly over the speakers, and several nurses and orderlies milling around the area were wearing either Santa hats or reindeer antlers.

"I'll be fine," Ana assured the nurse, hoping she sounded convincing. "My ride won't be here for a few minutes though."

"Okay, well why don't we wait right here in the atrium until they come? It's better than waiting outside in the snow," she said, parking Ana's wheelchair near the waiting area by the nurse's station. Ana agreed, and after the nurse walked away, she pulled on her coat which had been resting on her lap before sitting back and gazing idly around the beautifully-decorated lobby. Her eyes scanned across the wreaths and garlands hanging from the rafters before she glanced over at the twelve-foot-tall Christmas tree in the corner, decorated from top to bottom with colorful ornaments and lights. There were dozens of nicely wrapped presents sitting underneath the tree, and Ana wondered vaguely if they were real. A large donation bin for a toy drive sat beside the tree, and Ana couldn't help but smile as she watched a group of children and their parents crowd around it to place toys inside of it.

She was watching the people by the donation bin, therefore she didn't notice the large group of people who had just walked in through the front doors of the lobby. That was, until one of them called out her name:

"Hey, there's Ana!"

Ana looked over toward the voice, frowning, and with a small amount of shock saw the whole Grey family and Sean walking toward her, all of them decked out in winter coats, gloves and hats. They were beaming widely at Ana, hurrying toward her from across the lobby.

Blinking in surprise, Ana stood up from her wheelchair to greet them, an incredulous smile on her face. "Guys… I-I didn't realize you were coming to see me!" she stammered.

"Of course we were going to see you today," Grace beamed, approaching Ana and pulling her into an hug. "It's Christmas! We weren't going to leave you here all by yourself."

Ana simply hugged Grace back, feeling touched that all of them had come to the hospital to see her. "It's just that I didn't hear from any of you guys yesterday…"

"We're sorry, Ana," Eliza piped up, and Ana looked over at her. "When everyone got back from the hospital yesterday, Mia and Lily got into an argument, and then we all found out what Lily had done to you. Everything was kind of a huge mess after all that."

Ana's blinked, and she glanced at everyone else, her heart hammering in her chest. "Oh," she said quietly. While a part of her felt happy that they now knew the truth, another part of her was worried they were angry at her for lying.

"Oh, what can we say, dear?" Grace asked, gazing at Ana apologetically. "We are so, so sorry about what Lily did to you. It was inexcusable, and we sent her packing the moment we all found out the truth. None of us will be hearing from her for a very, _very_ long time."

"Good riddance!" Mia piped up from the back of the group, and everyone chuckled. Ana couldn't help but smile slightly.

"I appreciate your concern for me Grace, but I promise you I'm fine," Ana said to her reassuringly. "And I'm sorry that I hid the truth from you guys. I wasn't sure how you would react if I said that Lily had pushed me into the ice, or if you would even believe me if I had told you. I really am sorry…"

"No apology necessary, dear," Grace insisted with a kind smile. "Although we do wish you told us the truth in the beginning, I can understand your reasons for hiding it. It was an awful situation for you to be put in, but I hope you know from here on out, you can tell us anything."

"Of course," Ana smiled widely before glancing around at the others, registering who was all here. Pretty much the whole Grey family was here except for one member Ana wanted to see more than anyone. The disappointment must have shown on her face.

"If you're wondering where Christian is, he had to run back and get something," Elliot piped up, glancing back toward the front doors. "In fact… I think that's him right now."

The group parted, allowing Ana to see Christian walking into the hospital front lobby, smiling widely when his eyes landed on Ana. He was dressed in his winter coat, hat and gloves like everyone else, and was carrying happily-panting Lester in his arms… but the two people walking in after him was what made Ana's mouth fall open in utter shock.

"Kate?" she gasped disbelievingly. " _Dad_?"

"Merry Christmas!" Kate and Ray said simultaneously, beaming widely at her. They were both decked out in winter gear just like the others were, and both wore Santa hats on their heads. Ana was in utter disbelief.

"Oh my God," Ana giggled, pressing a hand over her mouth. She immediately rushed forward and threw her arms around Ray, being mindful of her hurt elbow, and hugging him tightly while tears of joy sprang to her eyes. Ray hugged her tightly back, and Kate then came in to throw her arms around both of them. For several long seconds, the three of them held each other, and the whole Grey family cheered happily at this joyful reunion.

"I can't believe it," Ana sniffled, finally pulling away and beaming at both Ray and Kate. "When did you guys get here?"

"Kate drove here late last night, and I flew in this morning," Ray explained, still smiling lovingly at his daughter. "Christian here called me up and filled me in on what had happened to you, and he offered to fly me down here to see you. I knew I couldn't refuse."

Ana turned her tear-filled eyes to Christian, who simply gazed back at her with affection and some other emotion in his gray eyes. Lester wriggled excitedly in Christian's arms when he spotted Ana, and she walked up to them and scratched her puppy behind his ears.

"I don't even know what to say, Christian," Ana shook her head incredulously, looking back up at Christian. "Why did you do all this?"

"Because you deserve to have everything you've ever wanted for Christmas," Christian explained, still gazing down at her with a smile. "You wanted to go home today… so I brought you home."

Ana couldn't help but laugh, shaking her head with a wide smile across her face. "You sure did."

She looked over at her father, who smiled back at her. He stepped forward and wrapped his arm around her, pulling her to his side, and Ana wrapped her arm around his waist, hugging him back. She felt an overwhelming sense of nostalgia and comfort from his arm around her, and she couldn't help but let a huge smile break out across her face.

"I actually have one other surprise for you," Christian said, and Ana looked over at him. For some reason, his expression was a bit hesitant. "I'm sorry, but I had to invade your privacy a bit in order to do it, but I promise it was for a good cause."

Still with Lester in one arm, he pulled his cell phone out of his coat pocket and unlocked the screen before holding it out for Ana to see. On it there was a picture Christian had obviously taken of the landscape Ana had painted earlier in the week, sitting atop her easel where she had last left it.

"You took a picture of my painting?" Ana frowned in confusion, glancing back up at Christian. "I don't understand."

"I didn't know if you had an art portfolio, so this picture had to suffice," Christian explained, putting his phone back in his pocket. "My family and I are acquainted with quite a few high society folk back in Seattle, and I personally know a few well-to-do people who are looking to hire on a personal art consultant. I sent this picture to them with your name and basic information, and several of them have already called me back and expressed an interest in hiring you."

Ana could only stare at Christian, in complete and utter disbelief over what he had just said to her. "Wait... you got me a job?"

Christian gave her a tentative smile. "Yes. But only if you want it."

Ana blinked, trying her hardest to absorb everything he had just said. "But... it would be in Seattle?"

Christian didn't say anything for a moment, but finally he nodded. "…Look, I realize it's a big decision, taking a job all the way out in Seattle," he began. "And I'm sorry if you feel like I'm being too presumptuous, but I felt that I needed to show you that, in spite of that awful incident you had with Lily yesterday, all of us do care about you a great deal, and we want to see you succeed in life. My family and I have a lot of connections up in Seattle, and I felt it would be foolish not to try to use that to our advantage. It's completely up to you as to whether or not you want to accept an art consultant job in a completely different state, but just please consider it."

Ana just stared at Christian, unsure of how to feel or react to his explanation. A whole plethora of emotions filled her brain, most of it being shock and excitement at the idea of working a high-paying prestigious job in her field of study. She looked over at Kate, silently asking her for guidance.

"You can't pass an opportunity like this up, Steele," Kate said seriously, and she smiled at her. "Although you know I'm gonna miss you like crazy if you leave."

"...Dad?" Ana turned to her father. "What do you think?"

"It's completely up to you, sweetie," Ray said to her, smiling. "Christian told me about the job on our way up here, and I have to say, it sounds perfect for you. Plus, I think it would be wonderful to have you closer to home."

 _And closer to Christian_ , Ana couldn't help but think, looking back over at him. Christian just looked back at her, his eyes conveying some unreadable emotion.

"Excuse me?" the nurse that had brought Ana to the lobby walked up to them, looking at Christian. "I'm sorry to be breaking up the party here, but no dogs are allowed in the building."

Lester let out a whine, wagging his tail at the nurse. Everyone else's shoulders dropped.

"Aw man, we have to leave?" Mia asked, frowning sadly.

"It's okay - we can just take the party outside," Ray said encouragingly, clapping his hands together. "What do you all say?"

Everyone chorused their agreement to that, and as a group began making their way toward the front doors leading out to the circular driveway.

"Hey, look - it's snowing out," Justin pointed out the windows.

Sure enough, large flakes were drifting down from the cloudy sky, covering everything in a thin layer of white snow. With a happy cheer, Elliot ran past everyone toward the doors, and the others followed him, laughing happily.

Beaming, Ana followed the others out the doors, stopping and gazing up at the cloudy sky, the snowflakes drifting and blowing around her in a light breeze. She tilted her head back and stuck out her tongue, letting several large snowflakes land delicately on it.

The others had run out onto a snow-covered area about fifty yards away from the entrance, running around and laughing happily as the snowflakes fell around them. Justin had his son Bradley sitting atop his shoulders, while Mia and Eliza tossed handfuls of snow onto both of them, causing Bradley to giggle happily. Elliot, being his goofy self, started throwing snowballs at his mother, who tried reprimanding him through her laughter. Carrick and Mitchell began throwing snowballs at Elliot, and the three of them began an all-out snowball fight, with Sean soon joining in. Odette, Ray, and Kate simply stood on the sides, laughing at the Grey family's goofy antics.

Ana watched them from the distance, smiling at them all, before feeling someone walk up next to her.

"How are you feeling?" Christian asked, and Ana looked over at him. "Sorry, I had forgotten to ask inside."

"I'm much better, thank you," Ana smiled at him before glancing back over at the others. "And especially now that my dad and Kate are here. I don't know how to thank you for all this."

"You don't have to thank me, Ana. I feel horrible about what Lily did to you," Christian admitted, and Ana looked over at him again. "Because the truth is I care about you a great deal, Ana. And Lily, the self-absorbed harpy that she is, couldn't stand the fact that I was paying more attention to you than I was to her. You didn't deserve to be treated like that by anyone, and I can't apologize enough for what she did…"

"You don't need to apologize, Christian," Ana insisted. "I'm the one who should apologize. I'm sorry that I lied to all of you about what had happened to me. I guess I was afraid that you and your family would have taken Lily's side."

Christian scoffed. "As if - we were almost glad to kick her out when we found out the truth. She's been nothing but a thorn in our sides since the day she and Mia became friends," he insisted, and Ana couldn't help but giggle.

A short comfortable silence stretched between them before Christian suddenly turned to face Ana, and Ana looked at him. "I'm honestly glad you're doing better, Ana," he said seriously. "And I want you to know that these job offers I got for you weren't borne out of guilt of what happened. I truly do believe you're smart and talented enough to be an art consultant, and your skills are only being wasted at what you're doing now..."

"Really?" Ana asked, unable to hide her smirk. "You mean me being a housekeeper?"

Christian chuckled. "Exactly," he said. He then reached down at took her hand in his own. "I know you might want to take a few days to think about the job. I realize there's a lot to consider…"

"I accept."

Christian blinked, staring at Ana in surprise. "You… what?"

Ana smiled up at him, almost giggling at his shocked expression. "I mean, I want to look into the work and what the job would entail and everything, but honestly it would be a dream come true to go back home to Seattle and work as an art consultant. There's nothing else in the world that would make me happier."

Christian beamed, clearly pleased beyond words at her acceptance of his offer. He put his hands around her waist and pulled her closer. "I could say the same about you coming to Seattle, Ms. Steele."

Ana smiled widely up at him, reveling in his closeness. "Is that so, Mr. Grey?" she asked teasingly.

Christian gazed into her eyes, his smile faltering slightly into a more serious expression. "I mean, I don't want to assume anything about our relationship…" he said after a moment. "Not that we have a 'relationship' or anything, but I was really hoping I would get to see you again if you were to move to Seattle. Of course, it's up to you whether or not we try to pursue anything more..."

Ana cut off his sentence by moving forward and pressing her lips to his in a fervent kiss. She wanted him to know how much his concern meant to her, and that she would be more than delighted to see him again in Seattle. Considering the awful circumstances over the last day or so, Christian coming to her with her family, a job offer, and his heart on his sleeve was the last thing she had expected… but now that he was here and willing to give himself to her, Ana was never going to let him go.

Christian smiled against her lips, wrapping his arms around her waist and holding her close. The snow continued to swirl around them, and in the distance they could hear their family laughing and having a great time playing in the snow.

This was, without a doubt, the best Christmas ever.

THE END

* * *

 **A/N: Thank you all for reading my story! Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to you all :)**

 **Love,**

 **StrawPaj**


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